E 
 
 LECTRO-BIOLOGY; 
 
 Oft THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF IMPRESSIONS, 
 
 CONSIDERED 
 
 UPON THE TRUE PRINCIPLES 
 
 OP 
 
 REASON.NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN A V WB0E, M. D 
 
 AND 
 
 JOHN BUD. 1C. D^ 
 
 MAN ACTS BY ELE C TRICITY. — Since. 
 
 WEVEETON, MD, 
 
 1850. 
 

 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
 John A. Wroe, iM. D., and John Reid, M. D., in the Clerk's Office 
 of the District Court of Maryland. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY 
 EDWARD F. WILLIAMS, 
 
 No. 3 Bank Lane, 
 
 BALTIMORE. 
 
 JAMES YOUNG, PRINT. 
 BALTIMORE. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 2 ¥ 
 
 Like all other mighty truths that have from time to 
 time been brought to light, the Science of Electro- 
 Biology has had to battle its way through the preju- 
 dices, the illiberality and the combined opposition of 
 the ignorant, the selfish, and all whose interests would 
 be affected by any change, from the "ancient order of 
 things." At this day of its existence, however, it is 
 •eginning to engage the serious attention of the litera- 
 ry and scientific, wherever its principles have been 
 properly set forth by its advocates, and we are not 
 now called upon to give new facts to illustrate its im- 
 portant truths. History, both sacred and profane, is 
 replete with them. Every periodical having any pre- 
 tensions to scientific repute, is filled with them. They 
 crowd around the social circle and the family fireside. 
 They are met with in the every day business of life — 
 in church and in state — in religion and in politics — in 
 law and in physic — everywhere. 
 
 But it is a privilege we claim of having examined 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 more minutely than heretofore, the mysterious links 
 of the invisible chain, that binds them all together in 
 one harmonious group, and shows the beauty, sim- 
 plicity and wisdom of its construction. It is a dis- 
 covery we claim, to have reconciled under the doc- 
 trine op impressions by Electrical agency, as 
 found in animated, spiritualized being, the discordant 
 opinions of those who profess to teach Electro-Biology ; 
 some of whom account for its phenomena in one way, 
 and some in another, whilst others, a numerous class, 
 entirely ignorant of its principles, go through the rou- 
 tine of the practice, merely for pecuniary advantage. 
 
 To many valuable authorities, we are much in- 
 debted in the preparation of this treatise ; but as most, 
 if not all of them, are named in the text, and as their 
 names stand high in the lists of fame, and carry with 
 them conviction wherever they are known, it is not 
 required that further acknowledgements should be 
 made here. 
 
 The sole object, by which we are induced to submit 
 our views to the test of public scrutiny, is the advance- 
 ment of truth ; the proper and scientific application of 
 agencies, that have existed from all time, to the relief 
 of human misery ; the eradication of error and the ex- 
 posure of humbuggery in a science so important in its 
 bearings to the welfare of man. Instead, therefore, of 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 clothing it in all the superstition of ancient priests and 
 sorcerers ; instead of concealing it under the charms, 
 chants and incantations of magicians, jugglers and 
 mountebanks ; instead of associating it with all the 
 mysterious manipulations and the subtle trickery of 
 pawing the air of modern pretenders, it has been our 
 constant aim to render the subject as intelligible as the 
 nature of the case would permit, so that " he that 
 runs can read," and the humblest capacity understand. 
 
 THE AUTHORS. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Introduction. — Ancients knew little of Electricity. — Their 
 mode of healing by charms, &c, all the result of Impression. 
 
 — Atomic motion produced by the passions. — Sensations 
 communicated by Electrical agency through the nerves. — 
 Cumulation of nervous energy and negative condition of 
 rnind. — The system ever producing Electrical currents, &,c. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Electricity and galvanism. — Electricity known to the 
 ancients. — Thales, the discoverer. — Its modifications. — 
 Galvanism discovered by Galvani. — The Voltaic theory 
 and pile. — Simple Galvanic circuit. — Compound circuit. 
 
 — The poles. — Galvanic trough and battery. — Nature of 
 the fluid little known. — Resemblance and difference be- 
 tween Electricity and Galvanism. — Decomposing power 
 of Sir H. Davy's battery. — Various experiments. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Magnetism. — Anecdote. — Natural magnets.— Artificial mag- 
 nets. — Poles. — Magnetic and Geographical poles of the 
 earth. — Compound magnets. — Magnetism a fluid. — The- 
 ory of atomic Magnetism. — Electro-Magnetism. — New 
 theory of gravitation. — Orders of Electricity. — Their in 
 fluence in producing the motions of the earth, planets, &e. 
 
g CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 A sketch of the human body. — The spiritual body. — The 
 connecting link. — Experiment of Dubois. — A real living, 
 self-acting Galvanic battery. — Two different surfaces col- 
 lecting and giving out different forces. — An Electro- Mag- 
 netic machine. — Secondary currents, &c. — Various philo- 
 sophical experiments, showing that all the functions of life 
 are carried on by Electricity. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 Elective and directive affinity of mind. — Active and 
 passive portions of brain. — Motion and thought inseparable, 
 except the motion of nutrition. — Laws of insulation. — 
 Process of inducing the Magnetic state. — Method of operat-* 
 ing. — Application to disease. — Motion and its effects. — Man 
 not an isolated being. — Nature of the brain. — Discrimina- 
 tion of vibrations. — Special cerebral motion. — Philosophy 
 of seeing ghosts. — Motion from within and motion from 
 without. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Object of sitting. — Negative state of mind. — Portions of 
 the brain Magnetized. — Anecdote of the Irishman and In- 
 dian. — The Magnetic state but a fragment of Impressions. 
 Mesmerism. — Clairvoyance. — Miracles. 
 
LECTURE I 
 
 Introduction. — Ancients knew little of Electricity. — Their mode 
 of healing by charms. 8fc.,all the result of Impression. — Atomic 
 motion produced by the passions. — Sensations communicated by 
 Electrical agency through the nerves. — Cumulation of nervous 
 energy and negative condition of mind. — The system ever pro- 
 ducing Electrical currents, fyc. 
 
 In opening the volume of history, what changes and 
 migHty revolutions do we trace on its ample pages. 
 Here we see the rise and fall of nations, and mark 
 the dread conflict between light and darkness. But 
 this is not I he time nor the occasion, for us to turn i(s 
 mystic leaves and follow man back through a long 
 line of centuries, and point you to (he different eta 
 that have marked his progress. Age after age has been 
 stamped with the impress of his genius and power, and 
 tells the resistless force of the inquiring mind. But the 
 subjects we are about to present for consideration, ore 
 only seen on history's mirrored page, in the dim out- 
 lines of twilight and shadow. The science of Electro- 
 Biology is the legitimate offspring of modern discovery, 
 though evidences of its unknown power, have existed 
 in every age and every nation. But mantled in the 
 mists and vapors of superstition, an ignorant people 
 ascribed many phenomena arising from this source to 
 the workings of the dread powers of the invisible 
 world. 
 
1() ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 Innumerable are the instances recorded by both the 
 sacred and profane historian of its manifestations. 
 The divining cup, spoken of in Genesis, whose manner 
 of use is wholly unknown to us ; the powers of the 
 Magi ; the ancient mode of healing ; the blessings and 
 cursings of the Fathers, are but so many exhibitions 
 of its powers. But Electricity, apart from its vital 
 connexions, as presented in the motions of life and the 
 phenomena of impressions was even unknown to them. 
 The sages of spiritual Greece looked upon the thun- 
 der as the voice of Jupiter and the lightning as his 
 resistless bolt. If perchance, during a thunder storm, 
 Patrician Rome saw the electric spark play upon the 
 soldier's^spear, it was at once viewed as a manifestation 
 of divine aid in their behalf. If such were the crude 
 notions entertained by the ancients of the more mani- 
 fest operations of this subtle fluid, what could have 
 been their knowledge of its silent and mysterious 
 agency in the mutations of nature, as seen in the 
 formation of the primitive rock, or displayed in the 
 structure of man ? 
 
 So little was known of the laws that govern man in 
 his relations to the earth, and the causes of health and 
 disease, that all things were more or less mingled with 
 superstition and credulity. Hence the wonderful im- 
 portance, so frequently attached to the most trifling 
 circumstance — the circumstance seeming to be the ap- 
 parent cause, became the ascendant, and formed the 
 basis of their reasoning, while the real cause was oc- 
 cult. Thus a system of false reasoning was established 
 and has continued even to the present day. 
 
 Naaman went to Elisha evidently under the im- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 1 1 
 
 pression that he was to be healed after the manner or 
 mode, as practiced in his own country, for we are told 
 that when his chariot stopped at the door of the pro- 
 phet, Elisha sent out a messenger to him, saying <l Go 
 wash in the river Jordan seven times and thy flesh 
 shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be healed. " 
 Mark Naaman's reply— I do not allude to that part 
 of his objection, as to the rivers of Pharpar, Abana, &c, 
 but he was evidently disappointed and looked upon 
 Elisha as a quack for having departed from the es- 
 tablished practice— for says he, ft I thought surely he 
 would come out to me, and stand and call upon the 
 name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand 
 over the place, and the leper be healed." Bear in 
 mind that Naaman was a distinguished man, a captain 
 of Syria's host, and that practice, which he pa- 
 tronised, was the fashionable, the accredited practice 
 of the day, and that practice was the laying on of 
 hands. 
 
 The heathen magi, uniting the offices of priest and 
 physician, and practicing successfully, this mode of 
 healing acquired so great a reputation that they were 
 deified after death, having idol statues, shaped in their 
 likeness, to which divine honors were paid. It may 
 readily be conjectured, under such circumstances, how 
 they managed to maintain their ascendancy, and thus 
 gain unbounded sway over the minds of the multitude. 
 
 It is difficult to fix the period when remedies were 
 first applied. The personal feelings of the sufferer must 
 have suggested the different modifications of heat and 
 cold, moisture and dryness in the earliest periods of 
 the human race. Yet these were never applied with- 
 
12 ELECTRO- BIOLOGY. 
 
 out the mystery of a charm. Hence with the ancients 
 charms, chants and incantations were always more or 
 less connected with the healing art. The number of 
 known remedies being very few ; they were compelled 
 to rely principally on this mode of healing, and it was 
 thus fostered and transmitted from age to age. Its 
 traces are even to this day to be found in our profes- 
 sion, and indeed may be said to be the basis of some 
 systems of modern practice. 
 
 Homer tells us that the bleeding of Ulysses was 
 stopped by a charm. Joseph us in his Antiquities says 
 that Solomon discovered a plant for the cure of epilepsy, 
 which he concealed in a ring and applied to the nose 
 of the demoniac. This he aided with a song. Jose- 
 phus says that he himself saw a Jewish priest operate 
 successfully in the presence of Vespasian, his sons and 
 the tribunes of the Roman army. Democritus says 
 many diseases may be cured by the sound of the flute. 
 Marianus Capellus observes that fevers may be cured 
 by appropriate songs, and Asclepiades employed trum- 
 pets for the relief of sciatica. 
 
 Boerhaave arrested epilepsy in a school which had 
 become epidemic by threatening to run a red hot poker 
 through the leg of the next boy that should be taken 
 with it. Ancient physicians speak very learnedly of 
 live toads suspended round the neck for certain dis- 
 eases. Again the soup of puppies is highly recom- 
 mended. The hand of the dead man laid on the 
 scrofulous ulcer or tumor has been known to cure in 
 some cases, so has the king's touch. 
 
 Epilepsy has been treated in some parts of Europe 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 1 3 
 
 by causing the patient to drink the hot blood, as it 
 gushes from (he neck of the decapitated criminal. 
 
 " The physicians of India and Egypt are to this day 
 charmers. The north-men compose Rhunic rhymes 
 to charm away disease ; with the Norwegians and Ice- 
 landers verse or song was looked upon as all powerful ; 
 with the Jews the simple enunciation of their mystic 
 word Abracalan was sufficient to inspire a confidence 
 that baffled disease : the Indian sorcerer by charms and 
 chants effects changes in the bodies of his patients 
 truly wonderful. The physicians in Chili, says Zim- 
 merman, blow around the beds of their patients to 
 drive away disease. The practice of some North 
 American medicine man, who performs certain fantas- 
 tic tricks and takes the medicine himself, produces 
 changes in the bodies of his patients every way ana- 
 logous to f .he most skilful administration of medicine. 
 The Arabs have their talismans, the Indians their 
 amulets and the western nations praise the cures ef- 
 fected by their holy wells and holy relics — a stone or 
 ring, with a history real or supposed, a verse of the 
 Koran or the Bible sewed in silk and worn next to the 
 body, has induced a coporeal steadiness that defied the 
 influence of epidemic and contagion. " 
 
 The sympathetic powder of Digby, which raged 
 for a time in Florence and England, speedily healed 
 the wounds, when the weapons that had inflicted 
 them, were carefully anointed and dressed ; the heal- 
 ing of the wound in this case, being attributed 
 to the dressing of the instrument. Perkins' Metallic 
 Tractors, which at one time were held in such high 
 repute for the cure of a host of diseases, were found by 
 
14 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 experiment with pieces of painted wood, to possess no 
 inherent power of their own, but owed their reputation 
 to the credulity of the patients. Upon the same prin- 
 ciple does the success of the less reputable finger doc- 
 tor of Texas depend. And as he possesses no historic 
 fame, permit me to give some idea of his mode of 
 practice. The doctor fixes his eye upon the patient to 
 be operated on, first making him bare the parts affected, 
 then making certain gyrations with his arm, he draws 
 the fore finger rapidly over the parts, and as it passes 
 off, he gives a decided stamp on the floor with his foot* 
 These evolutions he continues for some time, says it 
 is hard work, but it must be done to remove disease. 
 Ife believes that a sanative power resides in his finger, 
 and his success in some cases, confirms him in the 
 belief, and no doubt brings him new patients. With 
 how much propriety the infinitesimal dose, as prescribed 
 by the homoepathic physician, may be classed with 
 some of the before mentioned modes of healing is left 
 to the unprejudiced reader to judge. 
 
 It does not require any extraordinary acumen to 
 discover a type that pervades and a bond that associates 
 these multifarious results of experience. Certainly 
 there can be no legitimate connexion between the ef- 
 fect and the apparent cause. We then must look for 
 some other than that of the apparent. When we look 
 a little deeper than the surface of things we find an 
 unity of action resulting from the electric state of the 
 individual brain. Whatever can powerfully excite the 
 mental condition, produces a physical impression 
 through an electrical agency. Hence our impressi- 
 bility varies with our electric susceptibility, and fre- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 15 
 
 quently has no relation to the virtue or potency of the 
 ascribed agent. 
 
 It is upon this principle that faith, fear, joy, rage, ter- 
 ror, disgust act with so much power, when, in reality > 
 the subjects that gave rise to these several emotions 
 possessed intrinsically no power whatever. 
 
 a The simple act of inspiring confidence may be 
 seen in the siege of Breda, in 1625. That city for a 
 long siege suffered all the miseries that fatigue, bad 
 provisions and distress of mind could bring upon its in- 
 habitants. Among other misfortunes, the scurvy made 
 its appearance and carried off great numbers. This 
 added to other calamities induced the garrison to in- 
 cline towards a surrender of the place, when the Prince 
 of Orange anxious to prevent its loss, and unable 10 
 relieve the garrison, continued, however, to introduce 
 letters to the men, promising them the most speedy 
 assistance. These were accompanied with medicines 
 against the scurvy, said to be of great price, but of still 
 greater effacacy. The effect was wonderful, two or 
 three vials were given to each physician, and a few 
 drops imparted a healing virtue to a gallon of water; 
 many were quickly restored, and many who had not 
 moved their limbs for months before, were seen walking 
 the streets with their limbs sound and whole j and be« 
 hold this potent medicine was simply colored water.' ' 
 
 6 From this you may learn the importance of 
 strengthening man in his own mind.' 
 
 c Faith, fear, joy, rage, are never exercised with- 
 out corporeal changes.' Any mental impression, as 
 faith, acts on the principle of awakening motion. 
 ci Disease has been termed an error of action, a greater 
 
|5 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 or less movement of the identical forces that continue 
 life in health.'' And " There has been no disease,'' 
 says the same eminent author, " that has not been 
 caused or cured by the different passions." 
 
 Now, therefore, if a mental impression has the power 
 to awaken motion in matter, that motion may be of 
 such a character as to reverse the existing motion upon 
 which the disease depends. 
 
 Witness the wounds of the conquered and those of 
 the victors. Those of the victors, quickly get well ; 
 while in the conquered, they are lingering and often 
 prove fatal. 
 
 At sea a beat to arms often empties an hospital, and 
 the doctor not unfrequently silently contemplates and 
 contrasts the drugging system with the booming cannon. 
 
 The hand of the dead man laid on the scrofulous 
 ulcer or tumor, as we have said, has been known to 
 cure that disease in some females. The cure follow- 
 ing the application. The dead man's hand was looked 
 upon as possessing some inherent virtue when it, was 
 wholly the result of the impression or mental emotion 
 produced by the circumstances. There could have been 
 no virtue resident in the dead man's hand apart from 
 the impression Only think of a timid lady approach- 
 ing the bier, there lays the ghastly corpse, the very touch 
 sends a shudder through her frame. She approaches 
 with feelings not easily to be described. She takes 
 hold of the icy hand of death and places it on her 
 neck. Her mind being thus wrought upon, must of 
 necessity produce motion in the physical system, and 
 that motion of so intense a character as to awaken and 
 reverse the existing state of things. « 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 1 7 
 
 Baron Alibert mentions a severe case of goitre in a 
 lady that had resisted all the prescriptions of the most 
 celebrated French physicians, that was effectually 
 cured during the reign of terror. 
 
 An old gentleman suffering from a paroxysm of 
 gout and his attending physician failing to relieve him, 
 he was effectually restored by fright. His wife, at 
 the suggestion of a friend, dressed a lamb in slips and 
 cup, and taking it in her arms, dreadfully lamenting f 
 went into the chamber of her husband, communicating 
 the sad intelligence of the awful change that had come 
 over their youngest child. It produced so violent a 
 mental agitation as completely to reverse the atomic 
 motions of that portion of the body upon which his 
 disease depended. 
 
 An impression may be of such a character as even 
 to produce death, and the individual may be said to 
 die of an electro-nervous stroke. He dies from a dis- 
 turbance of the inherent electric action of his own 
 system, as effectually as if the lightning had Waped 
 from the clouds and destroyed him. How many have 
 died of sudden joy. The aged door-keeper of Con- 
 gress, upon hearing the news of the surrender of York- 
 town, is an illustrious and familiar example. Of 
 sudden fright many have been the victims ; especially 
 those of nervous and delicate habits. How was it 
 with the malefactor condemned to the guillotine. His 
 neck was placed on the block, his eyes bandaged, he 
 was pardoned, yet the fact wa3 kept secret from him, 
 the ceremony of execution was to be gone through and 
 then he was to be released. The executioner was 
 told to let the knife drop. The prisoner heard the 
 
!3 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 rattling wheel, at the instant he received a stroke upon 
 the neck with a wet towel. He was raised from the 
 block a corpse, his spirit had fled. The wet towel, 
 here, could not have killed him. Where then are we 
 to look for the force that destroyed him but that resi- 
 dent in his own body. 
 
 How are sensations communicated but through the 
 medium of nervous perception. In other words, 
 through the medium of the nerves, for a destruction 
 of the nerve at once cuts off all communication with 
 the external world. Then it is the medium through 
 which the mind acts. Now if we ascertain the char- 
 acter of that system we have the connecting link be- 
 tween mind and matter. Its character appears evi- 
 dently electric, and from the known properties of elec- 
 tricity, it seems alone worthy to subserve the mandates 
 of the will. Its transit knows no time, and with it 
 distance is a blank. Now, then, if physical impres- 
 sions are communicated only through and by the ner- 
 vous system, and that too by its electric action, every 
 other agent emanating from without — come in what 
 shape it may — a look, a sigh, a word must travel the 
 same highways to the dome of thought — the palace 
 of the soul, and be conducted thither by the same 
 winged messengers of nature. 
 
 The words of Byron are as true in philosophy as 
 they are chaste in poetry — "It maybe a sound, a 
 tone of music, summer's eve or spring, the wind, the 
 ocean, which may wound, striking the electric chain, 
 wiih which we are darkly bound." 
 
 So indissolubly bound is both mind and matter, that 
 physical action of external objects is conveyed inward 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 19 
 
 to the internal mind, and produces moral action, and 
 moral action proceeds from the internal mind through 
 the nervous and muscular medium to the external 
 world, by which we perceive that mind and matter act 
 and re-act upon each other. From this organization 
 man becomes the recipient of impressions and impres. 
 sions are the result of action or motion, and motion 
 belongs to both physical and moral action. 
 
 Motion can be communicated through the medium 
 of one sense as well as another and one sense, accord- 
 ing to its intensity of action, may influence the whole 
 corporeal motion, for with the senses are linked me- 
 mory, imagination, &c. A sight may bring a blush 
 or pallor to the cheek — may press like an incubus or 
 give lightness to the palpitating heart — may chill the 
 blood, or send it like liquid fire through the veins — may 
 be animation and vigor to the frame, or produce the 
 swoon of death. Tasting, feeling, hearing, have pro- 
 duced alike results. • 
 
 So long as the passions or mental emotions act in 
 concert with of the atomic motion of the system, 
 harmony may be said to exist. But a passion by 
 some exciting cause may become of so intense a 
 character as to produce a derangement of the atomic 
 motion of the body and even death in the same man- 
 ner as a tuned violin or piano may have its strings 
 snapped by intense vibration. 
 
 If death has been produced by impressions, an im- 
 pression has also the power to raise the sick from im- 
 pending dissolution. The extremes being admitted, 
 every phenomena that can be presented in the human 
 system between the harmony of forces constituting life 
 
20 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 and those of death, when the passions are involved, 
 may be explained on the principles of electrical im- 
 pressions. Hence, when an agent possessing intrinsi- 
 cally no virtue in itself is applied, and indeed with 
 songs, chants, manipulations or appeals to faith, hope, 
 &c, if success attends, we may strongly suspect the 
 w orking of impressions. 
 
 That impressions act electrically, and on the common 
 principle of attraction and repuJsion we shall show in our 
 subsequent lectures. If electrically, then subject to 
 some principle of action. If connected with the mind, 
 then measurably controlled by it. And if, as will 
 hereafter be demonstrated, it is generated in the sys- 
 tem and controlled by the immortal mind in its dis- 
 tribution and use, we may safely come to the conclu- 
 sion that it is also cumulative. That is, that it is 
 gathered up like wheat into the garner, from the silent 
 and vital changes that are going on in the physical sys- 
 tem, and stored away for future use in the recesses of the 
 brain and nervous system. If, therefore, it is cumula- 
 tive, it is subject to surrounding circumstances, and 
 can re-act with greater energy upon atomic motion 
 under mental excitement. This cumulation is also, 
 sometimes, called the negative condition of mind, 
 which is but the result of a passiveness of the brain 
 or submission to external forces. Man thus becomes 
 easily impressed. But the mechanical doctor or char- 
 latan, with his manipulations never dreams that an 
 impression, dependent on a cerebral atomic condition, 
 is electrically influencing for good or evil, a particular 
 oigaD or structure. This condition is also a fruitful 
 source of the fanatic and deluded zealot's success 
 
ELECTR0-B10L0G/. 21 
 
 And all false religions owe their influence over the 
 minds of the multitudes to it, and numerous have been 
 the sects, born of this parent of mystery. But we 
 shall only mention that of the Mormon faith. They 
 seem to attach wonderful importance to the laying on 
 of hands in healing the sick, and even take this as an 
 evidence on their part of Apostolic power, when in 
 reality it can be done by any one assuming an air of 
 mystery, first gaining the confidence of the subject; 
 any other agent would act in the same manner under 
 similar circumstances. 
 
 We have said that an impression acts electrically, 
 and in accordance with the common principle of at- 
 traction and repulsion. But the causes that give rise 
 to impressions are frequently only of a mechanical 
 character and sustain about the same relation to the 
 complicated and wonderful machinery of the human 
 system as the mechanical mover of the valves in the 
 steam engine. 
 
 That the human system is the most perfect isolated 
 self-acting electro-magnetic machine of the most deli- 
 cate workmanship will be seen in a subsequent lecture, 
 and not only as Dr. Dodd observes, does it derive its 
 electric action from the atmospheric electricity in the 
 lungs, thus rendering the iron in the blood magnetic, 
 but its sources are as abundant as that of the globe 
 itself ; of which man is but an epitome. In the earth 
 philosophy has proved that the mysterious process of 
 crystalization — the formation of metallic ores — the 
 numberless and inscrutable changes from the solid to 
 the gaseous state — the respiration of plants and the 
 germination of seeds, evolve powerful electric currents ; 
 
22 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 so also, in the several changes of the body, the motion 
 of its particles, whether undergoing the process of or- 
 ganization in the living tissues or passing out in the 
 form of excretion evolve electrical currents. That the 
 chemical and other changes constantly going on in the 
 human system contribute powerfully to this result we 
 must naturally infer from the very elements which are 
 found in the animal economy — such as carbon, hydro- 
 gen, potassium and sodium — which exhibit a strong 
 affinity for those of the negative- — as oxygen, sulphur, 
 nitrogen and chlorine, and other affinities of necessity 
 evolve electrical currents* Acids and alkalies are 
 found separated by a membrane, constituting myriads 
 of little galvanic circles, which as such, must produce 
 electrical effects. But more clearly will this subject 
 be illustrated in our subsequent lectures, after we have 
 somewhat briefly examined the subjects of Galvanism, 
 Magnetism and the Electro-Magnetic force3 of the 
 human body. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 Electricity and Galvanism. — Electricity known to the ancients. 
 
 — Tliales, the discoverer. — Its modifications. — Galvanism dis- 
 covered by Galvani. — The Voltaic theory ana] pile. — Simple 
 Galvanic circuit. — Compound circuit. — The poles. — Gal- 
 vanic trough and battery. — JVature of the fluid little known. 
 
 — Resemblance and difference between Electricity and Gal- 
 vanism. — Decomposing power of Sir H. Davy's battery. — 
 Various experiments. 
 
 The eye of philosophy fails to discover among the 
 legends and uncertain traditions of the ancients any 
 distinct traces of a knowledge of the first principles hy 
 which the life of man is governed ; and electricity, 
 now recognized as the ruling power of the universe, 
 was totally unknown, till about six hundred years 
 before the christian era. Electricity was discovered, 
 about this period, in a substance called in our language, 
 amber, but in Greek it was called electron, from which 
 electricity derives its name. Thales, a celebrated phi- 
 losopher of Greece, is said to be the discoverer. He 
 found that by rubbing a piece of amber, it had the 
 power of attracting to its surface certain light bodies, 
 and then repelling them, or letting them fall off. And 
 if he, when he had made the discovery, stood aback 
 in wonder and amazement, believing that it was en- 
 dowed with a living soul, what would be his feelings 
 now, could he arise from the silent slumbers of the 
 
24 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 tomb, and behold the Iron horse speeding away on 
 the wings of steam, and intelligence communicated 
 from post to post, a thousand miles distant, on the 
 electric or lightning telegraph in advance of old time 
 himself, swift and certain as he is in his flight. We 
 see by this, that the subject of electricity claimed the 
 attention of the ancients at an early period of authentic 
 history, and certain other substances were soon dis- 
 covered to possess the same electric power as amber, 
 of attracting light bodies when rubbed, and then re- 
 pelling them. For want of amber, this interesting 
 experiment may be tried with a piece of glass or a 
 stick of sealing wax. Thus, though the sages of an- 
 tiquity advanced from step to step, yet so slow was the 
 progress made in the investigation of this, nature's all 
 pervading and most powerful agent, that it was left to 
 the discoveries of the present century to dignify it with 
 the title, and rank it first among the sciences. The 
 deeper the researches into the arcana of nature have 
 been, the greater importance has this science assumed 
 in the eyes of modern philosophers, and the greater its 
 utility in the economy of creation, is it now known to 
 be. So important, indeed, is electricity in the opera- 
 tions of nature, that in all the motions of matter, and 
 in every chemical process, there are manifestations of 
 its development in a greater or less degree ; and there 
 are many of the present day, eminent in natural 
 science, who believe, and not without reason, that all 
 change is the result and not the cause of electrical 
 action. They believe, that composition and decompo- 
 sition, the growth and decay of all vegetation, which 
 is nothing more than the alternate attraction and re- 
 
ELECTRO BIOLOGY. 25 
 
 pulsion of the particles of matter, are effected by its 
 means. The invisible agency, which causes a stone, 
 when cast into the air, to descend again to the earth ; 
 described and called by the great Sir Isaac Newton, 
 the attraction of gravitation ; and the unerring certainty 
 with which the magnetic needle points to the north, 
 and guides the mariner across the pathless ocean, in 
 die darkness of the night, amid the thunder and the 
 storm to the destined port, are but manifestations of the 
 same power, differently modified. There is now but 
 little doubt that the daily motion of our earth upon its 
 axis, and its yearly revolutions round the sun, together 
 with the motions of all that host of suns, moons and 
 stars that spangle the heavens, and there for ever 
 shine, attesting the greatness, glory and wisdom of 
 God owe the regularity and precision of their move- 
 ments to the self-same cause. The life of man him- 
 self, the result of the most perfect organization of mat- 
 ter, is but a higher link in the electrical chain that 
 binds material to immateriality, and connects time 
 with eternity. Indeed an eminent English author has 
 already classified these various modifications, when he 
 observes that " The attraction of the magnet is an 
 electrical step in advance of gravitation, chemical 
 change one step more, the alternate attraction and re- 
 pulsion of amber is a still higher link in the electrical 
 chain. Galvanism and electricity strictly so called, 
 embrace all the subordinate links, while life or vital 
 electricity comprehends the whole." 
 
 We cannot, in the design of the present work, give 
 more than these general remarks, on what is called 
 common electricity j for the minutiae of this wonder 
 2 
 
2(j ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 working agent, we would refer the reader to the nu- 
 merous elaborate works now extant. We shall now 
 proceed to the examination of one of its modifications, 
 as coming within our province, and in this, we propose 
 to particularize. 
 
 Galvanism was discovered about the year 1790, and 
 takes its name from Dr. Galvani, a Professor of Ana- 
 tomy at Bologna in Italy, its reputed discoverer. One 
 day in the above mentioned year, some skinned frogs, 
 prepared for soup, were lying on a table, in the profes- 
 sor's laboratory, near an electric machine. 
 
 During his absence, one of his students, more for 
 mischief perhaps than anything else, touched with his 
 scalpel the crural nerves of one of the frogs, and the 
 muscles were immediately set in violent convulsive 
 motion. Galvani being informed of this, attributed it 
 to the electrical machine, and commenced a series of 
 experiments to test the truth of his theory. He soon 
 however, had occasion to relinquish it and adopt a 
 new one, when he found he could produce these con- 
 tractions of the muscles at pleasure, without the aid of 
 electricity, by using two wires of different metals, 
 This new theory was, that there existed in the animal 
 two kinds of electricity, one in the muscles, the other in 
 the nerves, and that it only wanted a metalic commu- 
 nication to set them in motion. He published a work 
 on animal electricity about fifty years ago, containing 
 his theories and the result of his experiments. The 
 discovery is generally called accidental, but we ought 
 to give credit, where credit is due, for the same trifling 
 circumstance, that led Galvani on to reason, reflect and 
 experiment, would have been observed by thousands 
 
ELECTRO- BIOLOGY. 27 
 
 of others, with only a passing notice. And although 
 his opinions were erroneous and his experiments failed 
 to reveal to him the true source of the subtle agent he 
 was trying to explore, yet they laid the foundation of 
 a science, that has already benefited millions, and in 
 conneciion with magnetism, is probably destined to 
 supersede the use of steam and become the great mo- 
 tive power of machinery. 
 
 It was left to Volt a, of Padua, to ascertain the true 
 source of this wonderful agent. He found that the 
 electricity or galvanism, as it should now be called, 
 did not exist in the muscles and nerves of the animal, 
 but that it was the effect of two metals on each other. 
 And the most simple experiment I can give you to 
 illustrate this principle in galvanism, is by placing a 
 piece of copper under the tongue, and a piece of sil- 
 ver above it, then let their edges come in contact, a 
 a peculiar not unpleasant sensation is produced, totally 
 different from that of either metal, or both of them 
 when not touching each other. Some persons are 
 even enabled, by closing the eyes, to perceive a flash 
 of light, at the moment of contact of the two metals; 
 I, however, have never been so fortunate myself. 
 This peculiar sensation we have spoken of, is caused 
 by the latent electricity in the metals, being set free 
 and put in motion by the action of the saliva on them. 
 The tongue serves as a conductor, the Galvanism pass- 
 es from the copper through the tongue to the silver, 
 thence along the silver to the point of contact, and so 
 on in a continued circuit, as long as the metals touch 
 each other. This fact was known long before Galva- 
 
28 ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 
 
 ni's time, but could not then be explained or accounted 
 for, on anything like rational grounds. It is owing to 
 this Galvanic action, that water has a different taste 
 when drank from a tin cup and a glass or any other 
 non-metalic vessel; and also shows the predilection of 
 the English for tankards in drinking their ale instead 
 of glasses. 
 
 Take a slip of copper and a slip of zinc, place them 
 in a tumbler of water so that their upper ends shall 
 project and be in contact, a very slight galvanic action 
 is developed. Put in some salt and the action will be 
 increased a little, a little sulphuric or nitric acid, and 
 it becomes still more intense. The zinc being most 
 easily aclecl on by the acid evolves the greatest amount 
 of Galvanism, and is therefore called positive. This 
 passes through the water or acid to the copper, from 
 the copper to the zinc at the point of junction, and so 
 on, will the current continue to flow as long as they 
 remain in situ. 
 
 This constitutes a simple Galvanic circuit. Now se- 
 parate the two upper ends of the metals, and put a fin- 
 ger of one hand on one, and a finger of the other hand 
 on the other ; the Galvanism will now pass from the 
 copper through the arms and body as a conductor to 
 the zinc, and so on in a continued circuit as before. 
 Take a finger off one of the metals, the Galvanism 
 instantly ceases to flow and the circuit is said to be bro- 
 ken ; put the finger on again, and the circuit is again 
 closed. A wire may be substituted for the arms, and 
 the current passes with equal facility, whether it be 
 only a few feet, or many miles in length, as in the 
 telegraph. This simple circuit is capable of develop- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 29 
 
 ing this mysterious and powerful agent only in a limit- 
 ed degree. 
 
 Volia, reasoning a priori, that if one set of plates 
 would develope a small quantity; two sets would de- 
 velope more, and so on, in proportion to the number 
 used. This he found upon experiment to be the fact, 
 until carried to a certain extent, beyond which no ad- 
 ditional intensity could be gained. His method of 
 combination received from him the name of the voltaic 
 pile, and was constructed as follows: upon some sub- 
 stance that was a non-conductor, such as dry wood, 
 glass, rosin, &c, he first placed a copper coin, then a 
 silver one, then a piece of cloth moistened with acid- 
 ulated, or salt water, then another copper and silver 
 coin, moist cloth as before, and this he carried to any 
 desirable extent, and was enabled to produce consider- 
 able galvanic effects. This is called a compound cir- 
 cuit, since it is composed of several simple ones. The 
 Galvanic influence will be most sensibly perceived at 
 the top and bottom of the pile, and therefore called the 
 poles. One is styled the positive, the other the nega- 
 tive pole. It is requisite for the success of the experi- 
 ment, that the two metals used, should be unequally 
 acted on by the acid ; that is, that one should be more 
 easily corroded, or rusted as it is commonly called, 
 than the other, otherwise no effect will be produced. 
 Any other metals will do as well as copper and silver, 
 or zinc and copper, but the two latter are most com- 
 monly used, both on account of their cheapness and 
 the easy corrosion of the zinc. The pole having the 
 metal most easily acted on by the acid will be positive 
 and that least so negative. It is necessary, therefore, 
 
:>><) ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 that I he pile should begin wiih one metal and end 
 with i he other. The poles must have a connexion by 
 means of a wire or some conducting substance, in or- 
 der to make the battery complete. All the phenome- 
 na of the compound circuit or battery are the same as 
 observed in the simple one, only in a much higher 
 degree. 
 
 The voltaic pile was found to be too inconvenient 
 in practice, and this led to the invention of the Gal- 
 vanic trough by Cruikshank, a means of producing 
 more powerful effects and much more easily man- 
 aged. It may be made of any size, but for most 
 purposes, in which it is used, it is made three or four 
 feet long by six or eight inches in depth and breadth. 
 The inner sides and bottom are cut in grooves, an inch 
 or two apart. A plate of zinc and a plate of copper 
 aie then taken, of sufficient thickness when soldered 
 together to exactly fill the grooves. They are then 
 fitted in water tight. These plates divide the trough 
 into numerous cells, the x copper side of the plates must 
 all face one way, and the zinc the other, so that there 
 will he a copper plate at one end of the trough, and a 
 zinc plate at the other, to which the wires are to be at- 
 at I ached as in the voltaic pile. In order to put this 
 battery in operation, these cells must be filled with 
 acidulated water and you will at once perceive the re- 
 semblance between the pile and the trough. The 
 acid answers the purpose of the moistened cloth, as a 
 corroder of the metals, and a conveyer or conductor 
 of the galvanic fluid from one set of plates to the other. 
 These are by no means the only forms of a Galvanic 
 Battery. They are as various as the purposes to which 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 31 
 
 they are applied or as the fancy of the operator chooses 
 to have them constructed. They are, however all 
 made upon the same principle, there must be two me- 
 (als of unequal corrodibihty, an acid and a conductor. 
 
 This, then is a brief description of the galvanic bat- 
 tery, the generator of that subtle fluid called galvan- 
 ism ; and by its means we are enabled to excite that 
 powerful agent in any determinate quantity we wish, 
 and apply it to various purposes at pleasure. But of 
 the nature of the fluid itself, its own essence or sub- 
 stance we know nothing. Yet we do know that it dif- 
 fers according to the means used for its development 
 We know that a trough or battery, having but few 
 plates, but very large, produces galvanism of great 
 heating power, whereas if the surface of the plates is 
 small and they are many in number, the electrical 
 character of the fluid will be more intense and the 
 heat less. These phenomena are always in propor- 
 tion to the size and number of the plates used, so that 
 we derive the following general rule. a If we wish to 
 produce great heat only, the plates must be large but 
 few in number. If great intensity is desired, the 
 plates must be small but their number great. If both 
 heat and intensity are wanted, then the plates must be 
 large and many in number. ,, 
 
 In many respects the electricity of the heavens, of 
 that excited by the electric machine, and galvanism 
 resemble each other. The metals and such substances 
 as conduct the one, are common conductors of both. 
 They both exhibit a spark, are both capable of pro- 
 ducing a shock upon the animal system when applied 
 to it. They both are positive and negative; that is 
 
32 ELECTRO BIOLOGY. 
 
 according to Dr. Franklin's theory, any body may 
 have more or less than its natural quantity; or accord- 
 ing to older theories, they consist of two different 
 kinds, termed vitreous and resinous, either separate or 
 in combination. The vitreous corresponds to the po- 
 sitive and the resinous to the negative. They both 
 effect the decomposition of water and other substances. 
 These with other similarities have induced many emi- 
 nent philosophers to consider them identical, differing 
 only in this, that the one is excited by friction as 
 in the electrical machine ; the other by the action of 
 acids on the metals, as in the galvanic battery. 
 
 In many respects, however, they are widely and 
 totally different. The galvanic fluid easily renders 
 iron temporarily and steel permanently magnetic, as 
 will hereafter be shown, while common electricity car* 
 be made to subserve no such purposes practically. 
 Galvanism is more dense so to speak, and can be con- 
 veyed to any distance by means of conductors, as in 
 the telegraph ; while electricity is soon lost or dissi- 
 pated in the atmosphere. This would lead us to the 
 conclusion, though it is not mentioned by authors, that 
 the former holds its natural abode in the denser par- 
 ticles of matter, or the recesses of the earth ; while the 
 latter, more etherial in its nature is a tenant of the 
 thinner regions of uninhabited space. Galvanism can 
 be produced in a continued supply and must have a 
 continuous conductor, while electricity can only be 
 had at irregular intervals, and is transmitted by sparks 
 from one substance to another, as in the lightning 
 during a storm. Tn all respects galvanism can be 
 made an obedient and useful agent, subservient to the 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 33 
 
 will and pleasure of the philosopher, while electricity 
 is at all times a refractory subject, and often escapes 
 with a crack and a spark to its native atmosphere, 
 when the operator least expects or desires it. 
 
 Sir Humphery Davy had a battery of two thousand 
 plates and of twenty-two inch surface, by which he 
 could kindle a fire seven times hotter than the fiery 
 furnace in which the three young Israelites were cast, 
 which we are told was seven times heated. And by 
 having wires pointed with charcoal, one of the most 
 infusible of substances, he was able to burn up instan- 
 taneously small pieces of gold, silver, iron and most 
 of the metals that were submitted to its action ; and 
 substances that had resisted, for centuries, all the ef- 
 forts of the chemists at decomposition, and pronounced 
 by them simple substances readily yielded their ele- 
 ments to this powerful decomposer and demonstrated 
 their compound nature. Thus lime, potassa and soda 
 were found to be the metals calcium, potassium and 
 sodium in combination with oxygen, or oxides of those 
 metals. The same may also be said of thousands of 
 other bodies. 
 
 Water is a compound and consists of oxygen and 
 hydrogen gasses in the proportion of one volume of 
 oxygen to two of hydrogen. By passing the galvanic 
 current through the water, it is decomposed; the oxy- 
 gen, being negative, is cariied to the positive pole, 
 and may there be collected in its purity by a suitable 
 apparatus ; the hydrogen being positive is carried to 
 the negative pole, and may also be there collected. 
 If a wire be heated to redness and dipped in some of 
 the oxygen, it will burn with beautiful scintillations. 
 
34 ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 
 
 The oxygen unites with the iron and forms an oxide. 
 But if the heated wire be put into the hydrogen, that 
 gas will be set on tire, and will burn with a beautiful 
 blue flame. If the two gasses are mixed together in 
 proper proportion, in a suitable vessel, and a current 
 of I he galvanic fluid passed through the mixture, they 
 will instantly explode with a loud report, and form 
 precisely the same quantity of water as before it was 
 decomposed. By this beautiful and truly astonishing 
 experiment, water can be decomposed, its constituents 
 made to burn, and converted into water again. 
 
 Gilding and silver plating may be performed by 
 means of the galvanic battery. Copper plates and 
 other engravings are accurately copied, and if a man 
 were put into a vessel holding copper in solution, he 
 might be encased in a solid covering of copper. Dis- 
 solve some soda in a glass of water, and put some di- 
 lute sulphuric acid in another, then connect the two 
 by a piece of moistened cotton, and put the wire pro- 
 ceeding from the positive pole of the battery in the 
 soda and that from the negative in the acid ; the acid 
 will then pass over to the cup that held the soda, and the 
 soda to the cup that held the acid. Again disolve some 
 sulphate of soda or other salt, in a vessel of water, 
 put some pure water in another, connect as before, and 
 apply the battery ; the acid may be made to leave the 
 soda, or the soda the acid, and pass over to. the vessel of 
 water, according as the positive or negative pole is put. 
 in the solution. A still more interesting experiment 
 may be made by dissolving some of the same salt in a 
 glass vessel, connect this with another vessel on either 
 side containing water, then by applying the wires to the 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 35 
 
 outside vessels, the salt in the middle one will be de- 
 composed ; the acid passing over to the positive pole, 
 and the soda to the negative pole, leaving pure water 
 in the vessel they have left. Upon the same principle 
 a person might take a dose of salts, and by applying 
 the battery to his sides, the soda or magnesia might 
 be collected on one side and the acid on the other ; 
 they then might be mixed and form salts again. Mil- 
 lions of little insects have been created by means of the 
 galvanic shock, out of powdered silex, or our common 
 flint stone. We might here enumerate many more of 
 its wonders, but for the present forbear, as we design 
 to take the subject up again in a subsequent lecture so 
 far as it affects the vital organization. In conclusion 
 let us remark, that these things may appear stranger 
 than fiction, but they are stamped as truths by an Al- 
 mighty hand, and man has but to lake them as he 
 finds them. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 MAGNETISM. 
 
 Anecdote. — Natural Magnets. — Artificial Magnets. — Poles. — 
 Magnetic and Geographic Poles of the Earth. — Compound 
 Magnets. — Magnetism a Fluid. — Theory of Atomic Magne- 
 tism. — Electro-Magnetism. — New Theory of Gravitation. — 
 Orders of Electricity. — Their influence in producing tlxe mo- 
 tions of the Earth, Planets, fyc. 
 
 There is an anecdote related of a shepherd, who, as 
 he was walking along one day, over some rocks, found 
 it almost impossible to raise his feet from the ground. 
 After several ineffectual efforts, on his part, to proceed, 
 he at length became terrified ; and untying his shoes, 
 left them in possession of the rocks, while he took to 
 his heels, at the top of his speed ; under the impres- 
 sion, no doubt, that he had fallen upon a den of 
 witches. How different the ideas of a philosopher — 
 the rocks were Magnetic — the shoes had iron nails in 
 them. 
 
 The Magnet is an ore of iron, and is found in 
 a state of nature, in various parts of the earth — 
 from this circumstance it is called the natural magnet. 
 It is generally of a dark, or black color ; but is some- 
 times found, though rarely, in a crystaline state. The 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 37 
 
 most remarkable peculiarity of the natural Magnet, is, 
 that it has, without any previous preparation, the power 
 of attracting iron and steel. This peculiar property has 
 been ascertained by careful and very accurate experi- 
 ments, always to be in proportion to the distance, and 
 not to the size of the Magnet. Some very small spe- 
 cimens, are capable of attracting and sustaining much 
 heavier weights, than others, in proportion to their size. 
 Sir Isaac Newton had one, which he wore as a set in a 
 ring, and weighing only three grains, which would 
 sustain 748 grains or nearly 250 times its own weight j 
 while others, of a like magnitude, would not support a 
 twentieth part of it. The power of Magnets, therefore, 
 is estimated, by the weight they are capable of sus- 
 taining. 
 
 The properties of the natural Magnet may be com- 
 municated to iron and steel j and these after having ac- 
 quired such properties are called artificial magnets. 
 The powers of artificial Magnets may also be trans- 
 mitted, ad libitum, and they are most commonly used 
 in experiments, for the simple reason, that they can be 
 made of any form and power, desirable. • 
 
 Two Magnets mutually attract each other, at deter- 
 minate distances, and the attraction between two Mag- 
 nets is greater than the attraction between iron or 
 steel and a Magnet. This mutual attraction may be 
 illustrated by a very simple, yet interesting experiment 
 
 — place a small Magnet on alight substance, as dry 
 wood or the figure of a duck, goose or boat, and a 
 piece of iron or steel, or another Magnet on another piece 
 
 — let them be put in a vessel of water, so as to swim 
 them, at some distance from each other — they will then 
 
3g ELECTRO-BIOLOGY; 
 
 be found lo approach each other at the same rate. The 
 interposition of any substance that does not contain 
 iron, in nowise, interferes with this attractive quality^ 
 for when placed under water, or in a vessel, from 
 which the air has been exhausted, or into which it has 
 been condensed, the same properties are still exhibited 
 in the same degree, as when in the open air. This 
 proves that the Magnetic influence passes with equal 
 facility through water, glass, wood and all other sub* 
 stances containing no iron or steel. The knowledge of 
 (hese facts, has been taken advantage of in jugglery 
 and slight of hand ; and by means of concealed Mag- 
 nets, the expert operator can perform wonderful and 
 astonishing feats, that would appear impossible without 
 the aid of a supernatural power, and which are totally 
 incomprehensible to the uninitiated. 
 
 A Magnet, either natural or artificial, when suspend- 
 ed by a fine thread, or balanced on a pivot, so as to 
 move freely in any direction, invariably points one end 
 towards the North and the other to the South. This 
 is doubtless, its most useful property, since it gave 
 rise to (he invention of the Mariner's Compass — the 
 Seamen's guiding star, when far away, upon the 
 boundless ocean, his beacon of hope, when the 
 storm-king rages fiercest — the discoverer of America 
 and the ant-artic continent — the indisputable lever, 
 that controls the commerce of the world. 
 
 There are always two points in every Magnet, where 
 the attractive force is greatest. They are at or near the 
 ends of the Magnet, and are called the poles — one, 
 the North pole — the other, the South pole. Though 
 it has heretofore been stated, that two Magnets mutual- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 39 
 
 \y attract each other; yet it only holds good, When the 
 North pole of one, is presented to the South pole of 
 another : for if two North poles or two South poles be 
 presented to each other, instead of mutually attract- 
 ing, they mutually repel: poles, therefore, of opposite 
 names attract; while those of the same, repel each 
 other. Rust weakens the power of a Magnet, and 
 a white heat entirely destroys it. The poles may be 
 reversed, or destroyed by an electric shock, and the 
 explosion of a small quantity of gun powder upon one 
 of them will sometimes have the same effect. When 
 both poles of a Magnet can be brought to bear upon 
 the same piece of iron or steel, at the same time, the 
 power is proportionately increased. It is on this prin- 
 ciple that the horse-shoe Magnet is made. Though 
 we have said that the magnet when suspended by a 
 thread, or the Magnetic needle when fixed upon a 
 pivot, points to the North, yet this is not always the 
 case. There are two Magnetic as well as two geogra- 
 phical poles to the earth, and they do not always cor- 
 respond. The North Magnetic Pole is in North 
 America — the South Magnetic Pole is in Australia. 
 A line passing round the earth through these two poles 
 is the Magnetic Meridian. The situation of the Mag- 
 netic poles is by no means constant, they are ever 
 varying towards the East or West of the geographic 
 poles, and as the Magnetic needle always points to the 
 Magnetic poles, its variation from due North and South 
 is sometimes as high as twenty or thirty degrees. The 
 fallacy of surveying by old courses and distances is thus 
 clearly demonstrated ; for a line that was run twenty- 
 years ago, North 10° East, might now be as many 
 
40 
 
 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 degrees West, thus throwing a line twenty degrees, or 
 one-eighteenth part of a circle out of its true course. 
 Ignorance of these facts, no doubt, often gives rise to 
 tedious and expensive law suits, and makes enemies of 
 those who were once the best of friends. 
 
 Several Magnets may be joined together, with all 
 their North poles one way, and all their South poles 
 the other, and form a compound Magnet of increased 
 power and efficacy, according to the number, size and 
 power of them so arranged. Thus placed, the fluids 
 all coalesce and act as one Magnet, whereas, if they 
 were reversed there would be a confusion among the 
 currents — the one counterbalancing the other. Mag- 
 nets become of greater power by being placed in the 
 Magnetic Meridian, and they lose a portion of their 
 power when not so placed, and if the North pole of a 
 Magnet, be constantly held towards the North Mag- 
 netic pole, it will in time entirely lose its virtue. Mag- 
 netic needles sometimes lose their power, but may be 
 remagnetized by holding a powerful Magnet to it — 
 the needle, whilst receiving the Magnetism will be vio- 
 lently agitated, but when it becomes thoroughly charged, 
 it remains perfectly at rest. 
 
 It is generally considered by the best philosophers, 
 that Electricity and Galvanism are subtle fluids, uni 
 versally diffused throughout the material world, and 
 we can see no good reason, why Magnetism may not 
 with equal propriety, be deemed a fluid also, passing 
 round and round the Magnet, from pole to pole. 
 Here, therefore, very naturally arises the important 
 and interesting inquiry, why is a Magnet, Magnetic? 
 This we can only answer from the present state of our 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 4 1 
 
 knowledge, that they have the particles of matter of 
 which they are composed, so arranged as to become 
 good conductors — on the theory we shall here ad- 
 vance, that the ultimate particles of matter are little glo- 
 bules — are original Magnets, and have each their own 
 circles of Magnetism, revolving or rather passing round 
 and round them. Now, we have already shown the 
 properties of the compound Magnet, in which alt the 
 poles of single Magnets of the same name, are brought 
 to act as one, increasing the power in proportion to the 
 number. Furthermore, we know that a single Magnet 
 with two poles, may be divided and sub-divided and 
 each portion will have new poles established in them 
 and become so many separate and independent Mag- 
 nets. Carry this division as far as you please and the 
 principle still holds good. Reduce it to the finest pow- 
 der and each ultimate particle, will still be a minute 
 Magnet, as perfect in itself yet of such feeble power as 
 to be quite imperceptible to our senses. It may be 
 said that this is mere hypothesis — not so, it is only 
 carrying out a plain and acknowledged analogy, for 
 each division of the original Magnet decreases its power 
 in proportion to its size, and it is perfectly fair to con- 
 clude that the same rule holds good, even to the ul- 
 timatum. 
 
 Now let all these minute particles be brought to- 
 gether so as to form one mass, they will not act as the 
 one Magnet of which they were made, for the reason 
 that their poles being some oneway and some another, 
 there is a confusion among the currents, one counter- 
 balancing the effects of the other as would be the case 
 in a compound Magnet, were half the North poles of 
 
42 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 the single Magnets, placed to the South poles of the 
 oilier half, under such circumstances, there would he 
 no power at all manifested, yet should we come to the 
 sage conclusion, that they were no longer Magnets — not 
 by any means; separate the compound and each piece 
 will be a Magnet still, perfect in itself— so arrange them, 
 that the like poles may correspond, and they all act as 
 one. So wilh the minute particles of the pulverized 
 Magnet we have supposed, arrange them in such or- 
 der that their poles shall correspond, and you restore at 
 once the power of the former Magnet. We therefore 
 hold, that every piece of iron or steel is composed of 
 innumerable little Magnets, without any regularity in 
 the distribution of their poles, — and when it becomes 
 magnetized, there is motion communicated to the ulti- 
 mate particles, and according to the universal law of 
 their nature, they so arrange themselves, that all their 
 north poles and all their south poles, correspond with 
 each other. We consider as proofs of this theory, first, 
 that bars of iron, old shovels and tongs, &c, when left 
 for a length of time in the magnetic meridian, exhibit 
 Magnetic phenomena — the terrestrial magnetism, con- 
 stantly passing round and round the earth from pole to 
 pole, changes the relation of their particles, and dispose 
 the little Magnets to harmonize. The second proof, 
 we offer, is the fact we have mentioned, that when a 
 Magnet has its poles placed the reverse of the poles of 
 the earth, it soon looses its virtue, because the currents 
 of the one interfere with the currents of the other — as 
 when two streams of water, flowing in opposite direc- 
 tions meet and produce a confused eddy. It is also a 
 well known fact, that steel can be permanently mag- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 43 
 
 netized and soft iron cannot; the steel being hard, does 
 not permit its particles to return to their original situa- 
 tion, when the due motion has been communicated to 
 them by the magnetizing power, and the force that 
 bent them in their new relation has been removed. 
 We know too, that when the attractive power is com- 
 municated from a magnetized bar of steel to an unmag- 
 netized one, the former loses none of its power, which 
 it certainly would do, were it on the same principle of 
 positive and negative, as in common electricity. Arti- 
 ficial motion, also, produced in the receiving body by 
 striking it with a hammer, aids very much in the induc- 
 tion of the magnetic phenomena. The compass needle, 
 we have also said, ( and it may as easily be proved by 
 experiment as to say it,) is strongly agitated, while re- 
 ceiving its magnetism, clearly establishing the fact that 
 there is a change in the relation, that is motion, of the 
 particles or ultimate and original Magnets of which it 
 is composed. Lastly, we will state, that all the re- 
 searches of philosophy have as yet discovered nothing 
 contradictory to these views, — and we shall take the 
 ground, that Magnets, either natural or artificial, are 
 only so, because the particles of matter which compose 
 them, are so arranged as to develop their otherwise 
 latent power. That other metals and other substances 
 are not magnetic, — that is, visibly magnetic, is because 
 the magnetism of their ultimate particles is so feeble 
 that visible attraction cannot be induced in them as in 
 iron and steel, by any artificial or natural means. 
 
 We might here very appropriately extend our re- 
 marks to the attraction of cohesion, chemical affinity, 
 &c, as dependent on the same principle; but the de- 
 
44 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 sign of the present work precludes more than a glance 
 at the wonderful operations of this truly mystic 
 power of nature. Yet, we cannot pass them by, with- 
 out the expression of the conviction, that cohesion is 
 nothing more nor less than miniature Magnetism. 
 Thus, if you take two Magnets and present their oppo- 
 site poles, they adhere strongly together — this is Mag- 
 netic attraction. Again, take two minute or ultimate 
 particles, having no visible Magnetic properties; put 
 them together so that they adhere— this is cohesive at- 
 traction. Are they not identical? JNow, by any means 
 in your power, change the position of the Magnets so 
 that poles of the same name may come together, and 
 they repel — this is Magnetic repulsion. Next, take any 
 substance and produce motion among its particles so 
 that they repel each other — this is decomposition, so 
 called; but what is the difference between it and Mag- 
 netic repulsion? Chemical affinity may as easily be 
 illustrated by two Magnets and a piece of iron. Take 
 some oil and soda — they unite and form a substance 
 eniirely different from either, called soap. In a solu- 
 tion of soap, pour some sulphuric acid, and the soda 
 will instantly leave the oil, and seek companionship, 
 and form a union with a more congenial paitner; and 
 all this is effected by what is termed chemical and 
 elective affinity. But, is it essentially different from 
 magnetism ? For if you take a horse shoe Magnet and 
 put an armature of soft iron on or near the poles — there 
 is a strong adhesion, — but apply to the poles another 
 Magnet of equal or superior power, and the armature 
 will either dropoff, like the oil from the soda, or pa^s 
 over lo its more powerful neighbor, like the soda; what 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 45 
 
 more, therefore, is chemical affinity than the attraction 
 between a Magnet and soft iron ? What more is elec- 
 tive affinity, than the stronger attraction, heretofore no- 
 ticed, between two Magnets, than between a Magnet 
 and a piece of iron. 
 
 We come now to treat of the connexion between 
 Galvanism and Magnetism, and to examine the rela- 
 tion they sustain towards, and their effects on each 
 other. This is called Electro-Magnetism. 
 
 The first effect we observe in passing the Galvanic 
 current along a metallic conductor, such as a copper 
 or iron wire, is, that there is a secondary current in- 
 duced, which revolves around the primary one in the 
 wire. This secondary current passes round and round 
 through the air in a plane at right angles to the wire, 
 in the same direction as the hands of a watch, when 
 the primary current is passed from above, downwards. 
 It is upon this secondary current, and the temporary 
 induction of Magnetism in soft iron, that the science 
 of Electro-Magnetism is based. It is the great prin- 
 ciple upon which all Electro-Magnetic machines are 
 made, and accounts for all the wonderful phenomena 
 of this truly astonishing and interesting science. 
 
 The most obvious effect of this secondary current is, 
 that when the primary conductor is held parallel to a 
 magnetic needle suspended so as move freely, it causes 
 the needle to deviate from its north and south direc- 
 tion, and to assume a position at right angles to the 
 conducting wire. Also, when the conducting wire is 
 insulated and wound into a coil or helix, having a 
 current of galvanism passing through if, and a piece 
 of soft iron is put into the helix, it exhibits north and 
 
45 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 south polarity — the same as a permanent Magnet, but 
 as soon as the current ceases to flow, the iron looses its 
 power. With steel it is otherwise, for it not only ex- 
 hibits polarity under the same circumstances, but if 
 allowed to remain within the helix for a while, it be- 
 comes permanently magnetic. It is by taking advan- 
 tage of this property of soft iron, in becoming Mag- 
 netic while the current is passing round it, that most 
 Electro-Magnetic machines are made ; some upon the 
 mere principle of attraction, others upon that of attrac- 
 tion and repulsion. 
 
 The most useful and one of the most remarkable 
 inventions of the age, is Morse's Electro Magnetic 
 Telegraph. This acts upon the principle of attraction 
 alone. The operator at one end of the line, alter- 
 nately closes and breaks the circuit, which magnetizes 
 a piece of iron placed in a helix at the other station. 
 This alternately attracts an armature, fixed to the end 
 of a lever, having a spring to raise the armature as 
 soon as the circuit is broken and the iron demagnetized. 
 At the other end of the lever are fixed steel points 
 which fit into groves in a steel roller, over which passes, 
 by means of clock work, a strip of paper. When the 
 operator closes the circuit, the iron is magnetized, the 
 armature is attracted, the opposite end of the lever is 
 raised, the steel points press upon the paper and the 
 desired impression is made. 
 
 Professor Page, of Washington, has invented a 
 printing press, worked by Electro-Magnetism, and 
 giving 1200 impressions per hour. Other machines 
 have been constructed— more curious than useful — 
 among which we may mention the revolving Magnet, 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 47 
 
 which, by means of a perpetual screw and clock work, 
 has been found to have attained (he incredible speed 
 of 48,000 revolutions per minute. For a more partic- 
 ular account, we will refer the reader to Davis' Man- 
 ual of Magnetism. 
 
 The secondary current we have spoken of, may be 
 separated from the primary one, as follows : let the 
 current from a battery of moderate power be passed 
 through a helix of coarse insulated wire, having a pis- 
 ton of soft wire within it — around the first helix let a 
 second one be placed so as to be completely insulated 
 — now let the current be alternately broken and closed 
 by a vibrating armature, as in the medical machines, 
 strong and powerful shocks will be felt by a person 
 holding the two poles of the second helix m either 
 hand. These shocks will be powerful or weak ac- 
 cording as the piston is pushed in, or withdrawn from 
 the primary helix. The magnetism of the iron is there- 
 fore supposed to generate the secondary current, or at 
 least the shocks, and hence it has taken the name of 
 Magneto-Electricity, and is that used for medical pur- 
 
 Again, if a third helix surrounds the second, a ter- 
 tiary current may be obtained. And so on, up to seven 
 or eight ; each one, the higher it ascends in the scale, 
 becoming less distinct and more etherial in its nature, 
 and resembles that generated in the human brain, to 
 serve as the connecting medium between mind and 
 matter, as will be more fully considered in a subse- 
 quent lecture. 
 
 From this brief review, we are naturally led to the 
 conclusion that electricity, variously modified, is the 
 
4g ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 great and all pervading agent, that carries the laws of 
 nature into execution. Indeed, when God created the 
 heavens and brought forth this world out of chaos ; 
 when he said, " let there be light and there was light ;" 
 when he created man after his own likeness, and gave 
 him power over every living creature ; he also estab- 
 lished certain immutable laws by which all things 
 should be governed. But wherefore the laws without 
 the executive power to put them in operation. But 
 His wisdom and foresight were not at fault. He at the 
 same time created that subtle agent we have named 
 to pervade all matter, time and space, under whose 
 controlling influence, every animal, and plant and 
 tree, and all things that live, and move, and have a 
 being, might w T ork out their destiny in obedience to 
 those Jaws, without any further especial providential 
 care. For we are not to suppose there is an especial 
 act of providence to direct every crook and turn of the 
 devious path of the life of man ; that he personally 
 watches over the budding and the bloom of every little 
 flower, from the germination of the seed to the full 
 maturity of the reproduction of its kind ; that he su- 
 perintends the ebb and flowing of the tide — the heav- 
 ings of the mighty ocean, or takes cognizance of every 
 organic and inorganic change that is taking place every 
 second of time, in every spot upon the wide face of crea- 
 tion. We are not even to suppose that God sits upon 
 his great white throne and directly notes down all the 
 actions of men ; or that there is a mighty angel in 
 heaven, recording his good and evil deeds in the Book 
 of Life. No, for every departure from the simple dic- 
 tates of nature, every violation of her laws — is as surely 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 49 
 
 and as accurately recorded upon the moral being, as if 
 an angel scribe in heaven had done it. For who can 
 yield to appetite and not feel every power of his being 
 prostrated? Who can act the sluggard and not feel 
 his energies blunted ? Who can walk in the paths of 
 iniquity and not pay the forfeit of morality and virtue ? 
 The heart, therefore, at that great accounting day, will 
 be laid open, as it were, a mighty mirror, in which are 
 reflected the good and evil of a lifetime. 
 
 This militates not against the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity, and savors not of materialism ; though it would 
 make religion itself a science ; not, indeed, of material- 
 ity, but of morality and the workings of the spirit in 
 connexion with the organization of matter, as found 
 in human life. Need reference be made to the abor- 
 igines of America, who acknowledged, in the untutor- 
 ed simplicity of their hearts, a superior being, and wor- 
 shipped with more than the zeal of a christian his 
 Kishe Manitou; or to the Hindoo who falls down and 
 adores his Pagoda, and in his blind zeal suffers himself 
 to be crushed to death, beneath the ponderous wheels 
 of the Juggernaut. Is there any nation, savage, bar- 
 barous or civilized, wherever found and for whom the 
 light of Christianity has never shown, yet who do not 
 feel in their own hearts a sense of right and wrong, 
 and it must be admitted ttftit religion and morality are 
 not of natural origin. 
 
 But though, they be a science, how unlike those of 
 material things. How much more sublime, how holy, 
 how divine! The genius of man has been sufficient for 
 the developement of nature. Thus we owe the per- 
 fection of Mathematics, to Newton, Lavoisier, Laplace 
 2 
 
5(J ELECTRO-BIOLOGY, 
 
 and others ; Galvanism, to Galvani, Farady and Davy ; 
 Botany, to Linnaeus, and Hippocrates has been styled 
 the father of Medicine. But religion, though it was 
 planted in the garden of Paradise, with the tree of the 
 knowledge of good and evil, though it was revealed to 
 Moses, on Mount Sinai, in tbunderings and lightnings, 
 and spoken by Isaiah's hallowed lips, of old ; though it 
 was sung in the Psalms of David and taught in the 
 Proverbs of Solomon, yet for its perfection, a God- 
 made man, was required. Neither do these views 
 come in conflict with the doctrine of repentance and the 
 forgiveness of sin ; for even as the body is restored to 
 health when in sickness, and the wrong action of the 
 functions of life reversed by external agents, called 
 medicines? so do repentance and prayer, reverse the 
 the wrong action of the corrupted heart, and restore it 
 again to innocence and the Grace of God. 
 
 So far, therefore from the revelations of science, lead- 
 ing the mind astray from the teachings of the Gospel, 
 they do but harmonize with them. The more is 
 known of the material world, the stronger must be the 
 conviction, that in the state of knowledge, at the time 
 the scriptures were written, and the humble capacities 
 of many of the writers, that nothing less than the in- 
 spiration of the Almighty could have dictated them. 
 And whoever will go to«the investigation with the 
 book of science in one hand, and the Bibje in the 
 other, unless he be wilfully blind, must meet at every 
 step, new beauties in each that correspond with the 
 other, and he must necessarily progress onward, even 
 to the perfection of his nature. 
 
 Gravitation was incidentally mentioned as being the 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 5t 
 
 lowest order or modification of Electricity, and Sii 
 Isaac Newton has described its action, as accurately 
 perhaps as human genius or knowledge can ever do it. 
 But of the nature of the agent itself, we can never pro- 
 bably arrive at any^atisfactory result, since it finds in 
 nature no one substance, that is a better conductor of it 
 than another, and since no natural or artificial conduc- 
 tor of it has yet been discovered, we are unable to car- 
 ry the investigation any farther than to determine its 
 effects on external objects. But reasoning from analo- 
 gy we are led to the belief that it is also a subtle fluid 
 like Galvanism and Magnetism, and is not the fact of 
 its finding no conductor in nature, a proof that it is the 
 lowest order of Electricity — a wonderful example of 
 the goodness of the great Creator. Doubtless did it find 
 one, that substance if a perfect conductor, would not 
 be brought down to the earth subservient to its power, 
 but would remain suspended without any visible sup- 
 porter, in middle air. And if all things were conduc- 
 tors, or if there were no such thing as the gravitating 
 fluid, (which it is assumed to be) one revolution of the 
 earth on its axis, or one single motion in its orbit would 
 be sufficient to scatter every particle of earth, rocks, 
 trees, animals, and everything, to the interminable 
 bounds of space. Mark then that the sphere of action 
 of gravitation is perpendicular to the surface of the 
 earth, and extends from the centre to the farthest limits 
 of the atmosphere that surrounds it, and probably fills 
 all space. And in the unity of action with the other 
 modifications of Electricity binds together the motions 
 of all the planets in one grand totality, while its pecu- 
 
52 ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 
 
 liar action is to keep the earth in its globular form, 
 and all things on its surface in their proper place. 
 
 Man has been called a Microcosm or little world in 
 himself, and so may every thing be considered, so far 
 as terrestrial gravitation is concerned. For the drops 
 of rain, as they descend from the clouds, and the mol- 
 ten lead in falling from the shot tower, exhibit in them- 
 selves, a miniature specimen of a perfect little world, — 
 for call it the attraction of cohesion, or whatever else 
 you please, that causes the particles of matter, when 
 left free to move among themselves, to assume the glo- 
 bular form, if rightly examined, will be found to pre- 
 sent the same phenomena as gravitation upon a large 
 scale, as displayed in the earth, the larger planets, or 
 the sun himself, the light and centre of the solar system. 
 
 Though the genius of philosophy has not been able 
 to discover, in the remotest degree, the essential pro- 
 perties of gravity, yet the ingenuity and skill of man 
 have applied it to many useful and important purposes. 
 The clock is a most familiar example, for the weights 
 descend and the pendulum keeps in motion by one and 
 the same mysterious agency. 
 
 Magnetism we infer to be the next order in the as- 
 cending scale; for we have seen that it finds in nature 
 three conductors — one perfect, — which is iron — two 
 imperfect, viz : nickel and cobalt. From this circum- 
 stance, its properties have been more accurately esti- 
 mated. Its motion we have seen, is with the meridi- 
 ans, or in a northerly and southerly direction. Of its 
 specific action on the earth, we know but little; yet, 
 since it is so universally diffused, and powerful an agent, 
 there can be no doubt, that it acts a most important 
 
ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 53 
 
 part on our globe; and, while it passes round and 
 round the earth, it probably extends to other spheres, 
 like gravitation, and faithfully executes its appointed 
 duties in the motions of the heavenly bodies. At the 
 same time that it acts on such a magnificent scale, 
 each drop of water suspended in the air, and every 
 globule of matter, has its magnetism in miniature pass- 
 ing round it, as each has its peculiar gravitation; the 
 earth being no more, when suspended in the bound- 
 less space, to the whole creation, than a drop of water 
 is to it. And although, through the vast bounds of 
 creation, it probably extends from sphere to sphere, and 
 like the bands around the wheels of a machine, it 
 serves to give motion to the whole; it has also, by inge- 
 nuity and skill, been reduced to many practical purpo- 
 ses, as in the mariners' and surveyors' compasses, &c. 
 Galvanism is a still higher link in the Electrical 
 chain, since it finds in nature, many conductors. 
 Many more of its sensible properties have therefore 
 been ascertained; and of its utility in the economy of 
 creation, we have already seen many familiar examples. 
 We shall presently show, that it exercises a wonderful 
 influence in producing the motions of the earth, as a 
 whole, as well as of its particles, in regard to itself. It 
 has also, no doubt, its influence in the motions of the 
 planets, suns, moons, and stars. Experiment has long 
 since demonstrated, that its course through the atmos- 
 phere is neither perpendicular to the earths' surface, 
 like gravitation, nor north and south, like Magnetism; 
 but nearly at right angles to them, or east and west 
 with the parallels. This fact may readily be proved by 
 placing a rod of any metal in a north and south direc- 
 
5 [ ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 lion, some eight or ten feet above the ground. It will 
 exhibit Electrical phenomena. The metal being a good 
 conductor, catches the fluid as it passes along; and if 
 the ends of the wire be bent and buried in the ground, 
 its effects on vegetation, for some distance around, will 
 he sensibly perceived. These facts will not be observ- 
 ed if the wire is placed in an east and westerly direc- 
 tion — clearly proving that the currents are east and 
 west. 
 
 Neither Galvanism nor Magnetism, so far as we 
 know, is capable of itself, of producing rotary motion 
 in any body. A Magnet might forever be a Magnet: 
 and a current of Galvanism might forever be passed 
 through a piece of iron fixed on points, yet, no motion 
 would be produced. But let a current of Galvanic 
 fluid be passed through a Magnet so placed and it in- 
 stanily begins to revolve with great rapidity. Now the 
 acid we have seen used in the battery is not necessarily 
 required to excite the Galvanic currents in two pieces of 
 metal or other substances. If two pieces of metal be 
 held at an angle, with their united ends in a lighted 
 candle, a strong current from one to the other will be 
 excited, like that produced by the acid. It is therefore 
 recognized as a well established fact, that the rays of 
 the sun, acting with fervid heat at the equator, upon 
 the land and various minerals in its bosom, excite a 
 strong Galvanic current from east to west — orThermo- 
 Electric current as it is usually called. The re-action 
 of this current upon the whole earth, considered as a 
 Magnet, produces its rotary motion, which is from west 
 to east; and the secondary current round the primary 
 one at the equator, gives rise to all the phenomena of 
 
ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 55 
 
 terrestrial Magnetism. Further, we. will add, that when 
 a strong Galvanic current is passed through a helix, the 
 secondary current has the power of drawing an iron 
 rod into the helix, and there sustaining it without 
 touching any thing or having any visible support. 
 Thus have considerable weights been suspended; and 
 if such has been done by man with this machine, and 
 if such can be done by so insignificant a creature, who 
 can doubt that the great " I am" " who spake and it 
 was done," did at creation's dawn suspend Electrically 
 and Magnetically, and still supports and moves un- 
 numbered worlds, with such regularity and precision, 
 that the motions of the one shall not disturb the har- 
 mony of the whole. 
 
LECTURE IV 
 
 A sketch of the human body. — The spiritual body. — The connecting 
 link. — Experiment of Dubois. — JL real living self-acting Gal- 
 vanic Battery. — Two different surfaces collecting and giving out 
 different forces. — An Electro Magnetic Machine. — Secondary 
 Currents, 8fC. — Various Philosophical Experiments, showing 
 that all the functions of life are carried on by Electricity. 
 
 When we take into consideration the physical na- 
 ture of man, and investigate the structure of his body, 
 independent of the invisible, etherial and spiritual 
 principle, that gives it life and motion, we shall find it 
 to be a piece of mechanism of the most perfect and 
 delicate workmanship. First, we shall find the osseous 
 or bony structure — the frame work and support of all 
 the other parts — admirably proportioned, fitted and 
 bound together by the various ligaments, into hinge 
 and ball and socket joints, so as to admit of every va- 
 riety of simple and compound motion. Xext we find, 
 suspended on the bones, the cellular membranes, so 
 arranged in their disposition, as to serve as a mould, in 
 which are cast the various organs and muscles of the 
 body, that give beauty and symmetry of form. The 
 muscles, we find of every form and size, to suit the 
 locality and use for which they were intended, now 
 swelling out in their centre, to give power of action, 
 then contracting towards their ends into strong and ten- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 57 
 
 ilinous cords, affording compactness and strength to the 
 joints. The digestive and nutritive apparatus, through 
 which all the growth of the body must come, and all 
 its wear and tear, from infancy to age, must be repair- 
 ed, is still more complicated and wonderful in its con- 
 si ruction. The hands first, grasp the food and convey 
 it to the mouth; the lips and tongue receive if, the 
 incisor and molar teeth tear and grind it into a pultace- 
 ous mass; the fauces, with their contracting and con- 
 stricting muscles, force it down the oesophagus to that 
 universal reservoir, possessing more than the powers of 
 a chemist's alembic — the stomach. Here, from thou- 
 sands of little glands, an acrid liquor, called the gastric 
 juice, is poured out, chemically to decompose it, with 
 the aid of the mechanical vermicular motions of the 
 muscular coats. By this process, the food is converted 
 into chyme, and in this condition, passes into the duo- 
 denum or second stomach, through the pyloric orifice. 
 Then comes the process of chemical changes, and by 
 a sort of precipitation, the separation of the nutritious 
 from the excrementitions portions of the food. This is 
 effected by the pancreatic juice and the bile. Next, as 
 the food passes on, down the alimentary canal, mil- 
 lions of little mouths take in whatever is suited to the 
 nourishment and repair of the system. These little 
 mouths, or villi, have as many minute lubes proceed- 
 ing from them, which unite into larger ones, in the 
 mesenteric glands ; these again form larger ducts, at 
 proper intervals, until they all unite into one — the tho. 
 racic duct. The food, in the mean- time, has been 
 converted into chyle— the wheat has been separated 
 from the chaff— it is now in a fit condition to enter the 
 
58 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 circulation of the blood, and answer the various purpo- 
 ses of life. This takes place at the junction of the 
 thoracic duct with the subclavian vein, where ate 
 placed two valves, to prevent its regurgitation. 
 
 In the circulatory system we find the heart, the great 
 central organ, constructed on the most perfect princi- 
 ple of the double suction and forcing pump. The 
 blood collecting from all parts of the body, through 
 the veins, is drawn into the right auricle, thence passes to 
 the right ventricle, which, by its powerful contracting 
 and forcing muscles, propels the blood into the lungs, 
 through the pulmonary arteries, to undergo the process 
 of decarbomzation and oxygenation. It is then 
 drawn through the pulmonary veins into the left auri- 
 cle; the left ventricle next receives it. This having 
 the greatest labor to perform, has still more powerful 
 muscles to force the blood now fraught with living fire, 
 through the aorta and its branches, to the farthest parts 
 of the system. 
 
 Lastly, we shall notice the most delicate structure of 
 all — the nervous system. And from the situation its 
 principal portions occupy, we may readily conjecture 
 its vast importance. We shall find the brain, the great 
 regulator of the whole, encased in a thick and solid 
 bony structure — the skull, which is of a spherical form? 
 the best to resist external violence. The spinal chord 
 proceeds from the brain, down its appropriate channel 
 in the spinal column, which is composed of twenty- 
 seven different bones to afford freedom of motion and 
 secuiity to its contents. The nerves branch out from 
 the brain and spinal chord, and spread out into a kind 
 of net work in all parts of the body, in such minute 
 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 59 
 
 ramifications, that you could not put down the point of 
 the finest cambric needle without wounding some of 
 their branches. This is but an outline of man's ma- 
 terial part. There are other organs, such as the lungs, 
 liver, spleen, the eye, ears, &c, which are equally re- 
 quisite for the full development of the phenomena of life. 
 Suffice it, however, here to say that, they are all ad- 
 mirably constructed to perform the duties and uses of 
 their design in the organization of the human body. 
 
 But what of ail this finely wrought material, this 
 most perfect of all mechanism, not made by the hand 
 of man, but of God. Of itself it is dead, inert matter, 
 destitute of life and motion, of no more power of ac- 
 tion, than the common clay of which it was formed, or 
 the dust, to which it must return. And as every ma- 
 chine, of whatever kind or construction, must have a 
 power to put it in motion*, so must there be, of neces- 
 sity, in man, a separable and distinct power to produce 
 in his body the sum total of forces, we denominate life. 
 When God created Adam, out of the dust of the earth; 
 when he had fashioned his material body, as we have 
 described it in all its various parts; there was still a 
 something wanting — it was life. And he breathed in- 
 to him the breath of life. Behold! the first pulsations 
 of the beating heart; the blood now crimsoned in the 
 expanding chest to animate the quickening clay; the 
 opening eye, rolling in its orbit, the unstopped ear, 
 strung to the music of nature: and perfect in every or- 
 gan, its part to act, man stands erect, a living soul, and 
 surveys, intelligibly surveys, the splendors of creation's 
 dawn — that living soul, a fragment of Omnipotence, a 
 
(50 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 part and parcel of himself— a spirit after his own im- 
 age and likeness. 
 
 We gather, therefore, from the history of the creation, 
 as given by the sacred historians, as recorded in the 
 Bible, that there are in man's body, two distinct, prin- 
 ciples, or organizations; the one, material, mechanical 
 and of the earth — earthly; the other, immaterial, spirit- 
 ual and of God — godly. We also find from the laws 
 that govern man in his relation to the material world, 
 that there must be a connecting link, a medium of 
 communication between the material and the spiritual, 
 through which all the phenomena of life are produced. 
 Through which the various muscles of the face, dis- 
 play the impassioned thought, and mind her empire 
 holds, and gives a tangible form to the creations of her 
 fancy, and hope, fear, joy, rage, love, hate, ambition, 
 find a physical embodiment, through which the brow, 
 its angry frown displays, the mouth its smiles, the lip 
 its scorn, the eye, the cosmorama of the soul, flashes 
 with rage, beams with intelligence, sparkles with wit, 
 or grows pensive with grief and melancholy. In fine, 
 through which all the impressions from external ob- 
 jects are conveyed by the various organs, to the internal 
 or spiritual existence. 
 
 What that connection or medium is, and whether 
 direct or indirect, we come now to consider. We hold 
 it to be indirect, and maintain that spirit cannot come 
 in contact with matter, so as to give it motion, nor mat- 
 ter come in direct contact with spirit or soul, so as to 
 awaken thought in the mind, but that they reciprocally 
 affect each other through electrical agency. We do not 
 however pretend to say, that it is that grosser sort, as 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 6 i 
 
 found in unorganized bodies, but a purer, more etherial, 
 and as it were a vital galvanism, manufactured by the 
 living organism, out of common electricity, so modifi- 
 ed in its nature, as to suit the higher purposes of life. 
 We come to this conclusion from a variety of circum- 
 stances. Every square inch of air we take in at each 
 inspiration, is more or less charged with electricity. In 
 the lungs, very important chemical changes take place. 
 The air is decomposed j the oxygen unites with the 
 blood, converting its superabundant carbon into car- 
 bonic acid, and giving it its florid red appearance, while 
 the carbonic acid and the nitrogen are thrown out 
 again at every expiration. The electricity thus set free 
 by these changes, renders the iron, the coloring matter 
 of the blood, magnetic, and is thus carried through the 
 entire system. And thus, while the oxygen creates in 
 the blood a kind of acidity, as it were, similar to the solu- 
 tion of sulphate of copper in the Galvanic Batteiy; the 
 blood itself gives off by its friction, the Electro-Magnetic 
 power, to the nervous system, for which it has a strong 
 affinity, and as Dodd further observes, being secreted 
 by the brain, it becomes the nervo-vital fluid, or animal 
 Galvanism. This is universally admitted to be the 
 highest order of Electricity, and is the highest and most 
 etherial inert substance of which we can form any con- 
 ception; and being the next step to spirit, is fit to come 
 in contact with it, and therefore, must be the connect- 
 ing link between mind and matter. Few will be found 
 at the present day, to deny the existence of some me- 
 dium, for the dead man's spirit, cannot move his body, 
 when the connecting link has been broken that bound 
 it to its clayey tenement, although every organ and 
 
r,v ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 
 
 (issue are yet perfect. Nor can I, by my will alone> 
 move that bench or chair directly, I might will, and 
 will forever, and it would not move ; but I can move 
 either by the intervention of other substances. The 
 spirit wills, the will stirs the nervo-vital fluid in the vo- 
 luntary nerves, the nervous fluid render the muscles 
 Electro-Magnetic and they contract, the muscles con- 
 tracting, raise the arm and the arm moves inert matter. 
 Thus it can only be through a connecting medium 
 that the mind can influence inert matter. It is equally 
 obvious to every one that has investigated the subject, 
 that it is by means of Galvanism that the muscle 
 is made to contract, and therefore, must of necessity 
 be the connecting medium. This has been clearly il- 
 lustrated time after time, by actual experiment It is 
 common, when criminals are executed, that their 
 bodies are delivered over to medical men for experi- 
 ment and dissection. Now let a human body be con- 
 veyed from the gallows to the dissecting table. Let 
 a strong, continuous shock from a powerful Gal- 
 vanic Battery be given, and the muscles of the dead 
 man will contract and exhibit many freightful contor- 
 tions. Instances have occured in which the dead 
 man would spring upon his knees, make violent mo- 
 tions with his hands, roll his eyes, move his head, chat- 
 ter his teeth, and even make frightful groans, so that 
 the experienced physician has started back in horror 
 at the sight he himself had caused ; while the student 
 has fainted away for fear, or left the room. Now what 
 was it. that contracted the muscles of the dead man? 
 It could have been nothing else than the Galvanic cur- 
 rent, sent through the nerves in the place of the nervous 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 03 
 
 iluid, which rendered the muscles Electro-Magnetic, 
 and hence give rise to the motions we have described. 
 Yet more striking results occur in the living subject. 
 In the dead man, the artificial current merely supplied 
 the place of the natural one — but in the living, it will, 
 when passed along the course of the nerves, if more 
 powerful, entirely supersede the vital fluid and produce 
 contraction, in spite of every effort of the will to pre- 
 vent it. Hence we draw the irresistible conclusion, 
 that the two are not only analagous in their nature, 
 that the one can supply the place of the other,and that 
 the more powerful, will supersede the other, but that 
 us Galvanism is the only agent yet known, which can, 
 when artificially applied, contract the muscles of the 
 living, so it must be the medium of communication by 
 which the will controls the motions of the body. But 
 were any further proof required, the experiment of 
 Dubois, as communicated to the Academy of Science, 
 at Paris, would be sufficient to convince any one not 
 ignorantly and willfully unbelieving. The description 
 is as follows: "Fix to the two extremities of a sensitive 
 Galvanometer, two strips of platinum; plunge these 
 slips into tumblers of salt water, and then introduce 
 into the water the corresponding fingers of each hand; 
 let them remain until the fluctuations of the needle 
 cease. Then contract the muscles of one arm by an 
 effort of the will, and the deviation of the needle will 
 instantly indicate a contrary current of electricity in that 
 arm. The amount of deviation depends on the mus- 
 cular development and the power of the contractions. " 
 Scientific American, * 
 
04 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 In tracing this subject still further, we shall find that 
 man, himself, is a real, living, self-acting Galvanic 
 Battery, of the most delicate and skilful workmanship. 
 On viewing his body externally, we shall find it cover- 
 ed with a membranous, complex structure, called the 
 skin. The skin is composed of three distinct layers; 
 but besides these, there are also found in it, innumer- 
 able, minute, globular bodies, called papillary glands. 
 These little bodies are found to be highly organized, 
 having minute arteries terminating, and minute veins 
 commencing in their structure. They are also seen by 
 means of magnifying glasses of great power, to have 
 minute ducts issuing from and terminating every where 
 with open mouths on the surface of the skin. If we 
 examine the various organs, as the brain, heart, lungs, 
 liver, spleen, &c, we find them all, without a solitary 
 exception, covered with a kind of skin called a serous 
 membrane, in which are situated incalculable numbers 
 of minute glands, as described, in the skin, with orifi- 
 ces terminating on the surface of these membranes. 
 These little glands, of both structures, are found to se- 
 crete a watery fluid, by which these surfaces are con- 
 stantly kept in a moist state, — and the great quantity 
 seen running ofT the skin, when a person is in a free 
 perspiration, and its accumulation in dropsy, water on 
 the brain, &c, show how well they are constructed to 
 perform their specific duties, and how much they can 
 overdo their office when excited to undue action. If 
 we in like manner go on to examine the membrane 
 which lines the internal parts of the body, we shall find 
 it analagous in structure to the serous membranes. 
 There is a slight modification, however, which consists 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 65 
 
 in its having what is called a villous, instead of a se- 
 rous surface. The whole of the alimentary canal, in- 
 cluding the mouth, oesophagus, stontach, &c, is lined 
 with this membrane, as well as the internal part of 
 every organ, including the ventricles of the brain. This 
 is called the mucous membrane, and like the skin and 
 serous membranes, it has also numerous little round or 
 oval glands, or villi, as they are sometimes called. 
 These villi, like the papillary glands of the skin, have 
 their appropriate arteries and veins, and ducts termina- 
 ting with open orifices on the surface. They are fur- 
 ther characterized, says Sherwood, by numerous little 
 cavities, crypts or follicles, which are found to be filled 
 with a semi-fluid or mucous, which is constantly issu- 
 ing from them, and spreads out upon and lubricates 
 the membranous surfaces. 
 
 We have now traced two different kinds of surfaces, 
 disposed in different ways, and covered with two different 
 kinds of fluids, just as we find in the Galvanic Battery, 
 two different kinds of plates, — zinc and copper — and as 
 in Grove's Battery, the most perfect and powerful yet 
 invented, two different kinds of fluids, the one acid, the 
 other alkaline. 
 
 Now, upon an investigation of the nature- of the two 
 fluids secreted by these different kinds of membranes, 
 that from the skin and serous membranes is more or 
 less acid, and that from the mucous, more or less alkaline, 
 and in disease they sometimes become remarkably so. 
 The acid is the muriatic, and the alkali is soda and mu- 
 riate of soda or common salt. The acids and alkalies 
 possess directly opposite properties, yet have the strong- 
 est affinity for each other. They are universally diffused 
 throughout the animal, vegetable and mineral king- 
 
(36 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 doms, and constitute two grand divisions of matter : one 
 of which, the acid, is called negative matter, and the 
 other, the alkalies* positive matter. It is also a well 
 known fact, that the positive matter constantly gives 
 out a negative force, and the negative matter a positive 
 force. Thus the positive or alkaline mucous on the 
 inside of ihe body and organs, is constantly giving out 
 negative force, and the negative or acid fluid, on the 
 outside of the body and organs, the positive force. Is 
 this not perfectly in accordance with the principles of 
 the Galvanic Battery? For we have not only found 
 two different kinds of surfaces or plates, but we have 
 also found each to collect a different kind of force, 
 which is Galvanic, just as the copper plate in the bat- 
 tery, is negative, and collects and gives out the positive 
 force, and the zinc plate, the negative force. From 
 the brain and spinal chord, proceed the nerves, which 
 spread out into a kind of net work on these surfaces so 
 minutely, as we have' already said, that the point of 
 me finest needle would wound many of their filaments. 
 These nervous branches serve the purpose of the con- 
 dueling wire in the Galvanic Battery, and convey the 
 fluid generated and collected on the positive and nega- 
 tive surfaces of the body, to the brain, and from the 
 brain back again to any part of the system the will 
 may direct. The analogy, therefore, between the hu- 
 man body and a properly constructed battery, is as per- 
 fect as can well be imagined could exist, between an 
 organized and unorganized existence. 
 
 But this is not all. We can go still farther, and 
 trace an equally perfect resemblance between man and 
 an Electro-Magnetic machine. If, as we have shown 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 67 
 
 in a former lecture, a current of Galvanism be sent 
 along an insulated wire, and that wire be wrapped into 
 a coil or helix, and a piece of iron put into the helix, 
 it instantly becomes magnetic and exhibits north and 
 south polarity. Let, therefore, a number of little iron 
 balls be so arranged in the helix, as to admit of free- 
 dom of motion, let the current be sent through the 
 wire, and each little ball becomes a Magnet and pre- 
 sents an opposite polarity to the other, these opposite 
 polarities attract and consequently the balls instantly 
 rush together. Now the same thing precisely occurs 
 when we wish to produce contractions of the muscles 
 in any part of the body. Every muscle is composed 
 of minute threads or filaments, forming a kind of 
 sheath, in which are disposed, at a little distance from 
 each other, a number of little globules of a spheroidal 
 shape. The globules are colored by the iron they 
 contain, and give redness to the muscles. Around the 
 cellular sheath, are wound the attenuated extremities 
 of the nerves as they proceed from their centres and 
 branch out to every part of the system, forming as it 
 were, innumerable helices, in which these minute glo- 
 bules are arranged by nature's most omnipotent architect 
 to become Magnetic. Experiment has satisfactorily 
 shown, that any body, should it contain but a three 
 hundred thousandth part of iron, it is capable of be- 
 coming Magnetic. Now, therefore, when we wish to 
 bend the arm, for instance, the will stirs up motion in 
 the brain — the brain sends a current of the nervous or 
 galvanic fluid down the nerves, and round and round 
 the minute helices of the muscles —the globules they 
 contain, since they are partially composed of iron, in- 
 
(38 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 smntly become magnetic and attract each other, and 
 this produces contraction in the muscles and motion in 
 the arm. 
 
 We have already seen in the Electro-Magnetic ma- 
 chine, most commonly used for medical purposes, (he 
 second coil or helix of fine wire, receiving from the 
 fust, which it surrounds, the secondary, current, or 
 Magneto- Electricity, as developed by the temporary 
 Magnetism of the soft iron, and conveyed by its proper 
 wires and applied to disease at the will of the operator. 
 This secondary current is also thrown into the form of 
 shocks, by the vibrating armature of the machine al- 
 ternately breaking and closing the primary current. 
 So also does it appear that the brain, being of a more 
 delicate and highly organized structure, acts the part 
 of the second helix, and manufactures out of the gal- 
 vanism, generated by the positive and negative surfaces, 
 a kind of Magnetic-Electricity. The will also, acting 
 more perfectly the part of a vibrating armature, alter- 
 nately sends along the different nerves the vital power 
 to any or every part, at its pleasure, and thus controls 
 the motions of the body. For instance, we wish to 
 bend the arm — the will directs a current of Magneto- 
 Electricity, down the nerves that are distributed to the 
 flexor muscles, round the innumerable helices of which 
 they are composed; the minute globules, partly iron, 
 become Magnetic and attract each other, and conse- 
 quently bend the arm, with a power in proportion to 
 the volume and perfection of the muscle and the 
 amount of the will or nervous power applied. The 
 same thing precisely, that is found in the Magnetic ma- 
 chine. The piston is generally made of a bundle of 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 69 
 
 wires, resembling the muscles, and the more powerful 
 the current from the Battery, the more power is given 
 to the Magnet, the greater its attraction, and the heavier 
 weight will it sustain. The extensor muscles in the 
 mean time, having no current playing on them, are 
 not Magnetic, their globules do not attract and conse- 
 quently offer no resistance, except what may be need- 
 ed mechanically, to extend them. Now suppose we 
 wish to extend the arm. The will, of course, shuts off 
 or breaks the circuit round the flexors — they are demag- 
 netized, and their attraction ceases; the extensors are in 
 the meantime magnetized, and the arm is extended, 
 upon the same principle it was flexed. Is not the an- 
 alogy, therefore, between man and an Electro-Magnetic 
 machine, correct beyond a doubt. The one, however, 
 was fashioned by an almighty hand, and is the most 
 perfect work of God, with power to control its own 
 working in a state of health; the other is but the handi- 
 craft of man, imperfect as he is imperfect, but an imi- 
 tation of its prototype, as he is but the image of his 
 maker. But how beautiful the idea; how wisely or- 
 dained, that we should receive our impressions fiom, 
 and hold communion with the crude and unorganized 
 material world around us, by common electricity, as 
 we inhale it at every breath, as its vibrations enter the 
 eye at every sight we see, or the ear at every sound we 
 hear; and in the system, by the mysterious workings 
 of the brain and the organs, converted into a more 
 etherial element, fit to connect the material of organ- 
 ized existence with mind, thought, and soul, — and 
 form a union with the spirit world and its great creator, 
 
70 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 God. Let man, therefore bow down in humble admi- 
 ration to him who, in his wisdom hath made them all/ 
 
 We have thus far, principally confined our observa- 
 tions to the production of muscular motion, by means 
 of Electricity. We shall now make some extracts from 
 well known authors, to show that the other func- 
 tions of life are performed through the same agency. 
 Indeed, there can be no doubt but that they all are. 
 
 The first experiment we shall quote, is related in 
 Mcintosh's Electrical Theory of the Universe, page 78. 
 
 An individual raised on the fingers of four 
 other persons. — The heaviest person of the party 
 lies down upon two chairs, his legs supported by one, 
 and his back by the other. Four persons, one at each 
 leg and one at each shoulder, then try to raise him, 
 and they find his dead weight to be very great from the 
 difficulty they experience in supporting him. When 
 he is replaced in the chair, each of the four persons 
 takes hold of the body as before, and the person to be 
 lifted gives two signals by clapping his hands. At the 
 first signal, he himself and the four lifters begin to draw 
 a long and full breath, — and when the inhalation is 
 complete, or the lungs filled with air, the second signal 
 is given for raising the person from the chair — to his 
 own surprise and that of his bearers, he is raised with 
 the greatest facility, as if he were no heavier than a 
 feather. It is also declared that the experiment would 
 not succeed if the person lifted were placed upon 
 a board, and the strength of the individuals applied to 
 the board. It is stated that it is necessary the bearers 
 should communicate directly with the body to be raised. 
 There is no explanation given of this curious fact, and 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 71 
 
 we will not pretend to solve its mystery to a demonstra- 
 tion. We have already said that we inhale Electricity 
 at every breath, — that this Electricity is either equiva- 
 lent to or manufactured into Galvanic power, and that 
 it is through this power that we raise the arm. Now, 
 therefore, the more there is taken in at a full breath 
 the stronger a person can make himself. It is also pro- 
 bably owing, in part to the impression made upon the 
 belief of the lifters. Believing they can, they do. 
 There is magic in the word can; there is a thousand 
 weight in the word cant. We come now to more in- 
 teresting facts. According to Ritter, the Electricity of 
 the positive pole augments, whilst the negative dimin- 
 ishes the action of life, tumefaction of parts is pro- 
 duced by the former, depression by the latter. 
 
 The pulse of the hand, he says, held a few minutes 
 in contact with the positive pole, is strengthened; that 
 of the one in contact with the negative is enfeebled; — 
 the former is accompanied with a sense of heat, the 
 latter with a feeling of coldness; — objects appear to a 
 positively electrified eye, larger, brighter and red ; 
 while to the one negatively electrified, they appear 
 smaller, less distinct, and bluish, indicating opposite 
 extremities of the prismatic spectrum. The acid and 
 alkaline tastes, when the tongue is acted on in succes- 
 sion by the two Electricities, are well know T n and have 
 been ingeniously accounted for by Sir Humphrey 
 Davy, in his admirable Bakerian Lectures. The smell 
 of oxy-murialic acid, and of ammonia, are said by 
 Ritter to be opposite odors, excited by the two opposite 
 poles, as a full body of sound and a sharp tone are the 
 corresponding effects on the ear. 
 
72 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 We next quote from Dr. Wilson Philip, in respect 
 to the effects of Galvanism on respiration and digestion. 
 He says, "the eighth pair of nerves, distributed to the 
 stomach and subservient to digestion, were divided by 
 incisions in the necks of several living rabbits. After 
 the operation, the parsley which they ate, was removed 
 without alteration in their stomachs; and the animals, 
 after evincing much difficulty of breathing, seemed to 
 die of suffocation. But when, in other rabbits, sim- 
 ilarly treated, the Galvanic power was transmitted along 
 the nerve, below its section, to a disc of silver, placed 
 closely in contact with the skin of the animal, opposite 
 to its stomach, no difficulty of breathing occurred, — the 
 voltaic action being kept up for twenty-six hours ; the 
 rabbits were then killed, and the parsley was found in 
 as perfectly digested a state as that in healthy rabbits, fed 
 at the same time, and their stomachs evolved the smell 
 peculiar to that of a rabbit during digestion. These ex- 
 periments were repeated several times, with similar re- 
 sults." "Hence," says Dr. Philip, "Galvanism seems 
 capable of performing all the functions of the nervous 
 influence in the animal economy. " 
 
 But not only is Electricity capable of sustaining and 
 carrying on the functions of life; it actually originates 
 the animal organization. Mr. Alfred Smee, the in- 
 ventor of the battery which bears his name, has an- 
 nounced the following discoveries in animal Electricity. 
 u By a test, which he terms electro-voltaic, he has dis- 
 covered that the termination of the sensor nerves are 
 positive poles of a voltaic circuit, whilst the muscular 
 substance is the negative pole. The sensor nerves are 
 the telegraphs, which carry the sensation to the brain, 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 73 
 
 and the motor-nerves carry back volition to the muscles. 
 The brain, he infers, to consist of five distinct voltaic 
 circles, which, upon theoretical grounds, he believes to 
 be sufficient to account for all mental phenomena. He 
 has succeeded in making artificial electric fish and ar- 
 tificial muscular substance. ,, 
 
 Mr. Crosse has thrown still more light upon science, 
 by his discoveries, in his researches into the process of 
 crystallization. " He heated a flint to a white heat, 
 and then plunged it into water to pulverize it. The 
 silex, thus reduced, was saturated to excess, with muri- 
 atic acid. The mixture was placed in a jar, a piece 
 of flannel was suspended in it, one end of which ex- 
 tended over the side, and thus by cappillary attraction, 
 the liquor was slowly filtered, fell into a funnel, and 
 thence dropped on a piece of ironstone from Mount 
 Vesuvius, upon which were laid the two wires connect- 
 ed with either pole of the battery. The ironstone had 
 also been heated to a white heat, so that no germs of 
 life could have existed upon it. On the 14th day, Mr. 
 Crosse saw some small white specks upon the stone. 
 Four days afterwards they had elongated and assumed 
 an oval form. He concluded that they were incipient 
 crystals. Great w T as his surprise on the 22nd day, to 
 find eight legs projecting from each of these white 
 bodies: still he could not believe that they were living 
 beings. But on the 26th day, his surprise was com- 
 plete; there could be no mistake; they moved, they fed, 
 they were perfect insects. Eighteen or twenty of them 
 have since appeared. Many have seen them, but there 
 is no record of such an insect. It is in form something 
 like a mite; it has eight legs, four bristles at the tail, 
 4 
 
74 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 and the edges of the body are very bristly; its motions 
 are .visible to the naked eye; its color is grey; its sub- 
 stance is pulpy. It appears to feed upon the silicious 
 particles of the fluid." 
 
 "The most extraordinary circumstance in this phe- 
 nomenon is the nature of the fluid in which this insect 
 lives and thrives. The acid instantly destroys every 
 other living being," 
 
 " But a second trial has confirmed the fact beyond a 
 doubt. Another portion of silex was prepared in the 
 same manner, and reduced to a gelatinous form, but 
 without the acid. A coil of silver wire was suspended 
 in it from one of the poles of the battery, and the other 
 pole was also immersed so as to send through the mass 
 an incessant stream of the Electric fluid. About three 
 weeks afterwards, Mr. O. examined the poles to search 
 for crystals, and in one of the coils of wire he found 
 one of these strange insects. This* proves that it is 
 produced from the silex, and not from the acid." 
 
 These experiments ought to satisfy the most incred- 
 ulous, and certainly explain the mysteries of life much 
 more philosophically than the old hobby of the "vital 
 principle" and the "vis medicatrix naturae." We shall 
 give an account of one more experiment, showing the 
 effect of Electricity on vegetation. "Take a small 
 quantity of mustard or cress seed, and steep it for a 
 few days in diluted oxy-muriatic acid; sow it in a fine 
 light soil, in a garden pot, cover it with a metallic 
 cover, and bring it in contact with the prime conductor 
 of an electric machine. The seed will spring up, as 
 if by magic, and in the course of a few minutes the 
 crop will be ready to cut — the salad will be fit to be 
 put upon the table." 
 
LECTURE V 
 
 Elective and directive affinity of mind. — Active and passive por- 
 tions of brain. — Motion and thought, inseparable, — except the 
 motion of nutrition. — haws of insulation. — Process of inducing 
 the Magnetic state. — Method of operating. — Application to 
 disease. — Motion and its effects. — Man not an isolated being. — 
 JYature of the brain. — Discrimination of vibrations. — Special 
 cerebral motion. — Philosophy of seeing ghosts. — Motion from 
 loithin and motion from without. 
 
 From a consideration of the foregoing principles, it 
 must be evident to the least reflective mind, that the 
 important and intimate relation, subsisting between 
 mind and matter, is traceable to an electrical connex- 
 ion. It has also been shown that the nerves are the 
 Telegraphic wires, through which the communication 
 is effected, for the division of a nerve at once cuts oft' 
 all intercourse between the sensorium — the residence of 
 mind, and the part to which the nerve is distributed. 
 So that the will cannot have an actual contact, to in- 
 fluence and control the voluntary motions of the 
 body, but is subject to those vehicles of communication. 
 In other respects it is not so limited in its operations, 
 for it has both an elective and a directive affinity, sub- 
 servient, however, to the great ruling power— mind. 
 Thus, when an individual raises his arm in pre- 
 
76 ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 ference to any other part of the body, he is said to 
 call in play the voluntary muscles of that particular 
 part. And what are voluntary muscles, but those 
 obedient to the will, and the will, but an attribute of 
 of mind ? Hut here is exhibited a most perfect exam- 
 ple of election and direction — election in preferring to 
 move that particular portion of the body, and direction, 
 by sending down through the nerves distributed to the 
 arm, the electric current, to effect the motion intended. 
 During this elective action of mind in the normal state, 
 the other voluntary muscles are passive, and commu- 
 nicate no sensation unless excited by stimuli. The 
 process of nutrition and atomic motion, constituting 
 the involuntary, is still going on, and the waste and re- 
 pair of every organ and tissue is in a great measure un- 
 affected by volition. What has been said of the mus- 
 cular system, as it regards elective action, applies with 
 equal force to the brain. As mind can only manifest 
 itself in concert with the highest and most etherial 
 agency, that agency requires a corresponding organism; 
 hence we find the brain more highly organized than 
 any other portion of the body, — consisting as it were of 
 a conglomeration of nerves. This curious and deli- 
 cately wrought mass, holding within its complexities, 
 that mysterious and God like resident — mind, is divi- 
 ded into lobes and organs, to each of which is assigned 
 its appropriate office, of reasoning, recollecting, imagin- 
 ing, hoping, just as we find in the muscular system 
 one set of flexors, another of extensors, one to ex- 
 pand the chest, and another to produce the harmony 
 of sound. Now, as is familiar to every individual, 
 one of these may be at rest while another is in motion. 
 
ELECTRO -BIOLOGY. 77 
 
 So may one portion of the brain be passive while an- 
 other may be very active. The passive portion of the 
 brain can then no more give rise to thought, than the 
 passive muscle be a medium of sensation. The mus- 
 cle may be stimulated by almost any resisting power, 
 and thus make its communication, whereas the medi- 
 um of higher communication is by sound and shadow. 
 To receive these impressions, a finer organization is 
 required ; hence the eye is more highly organized than 
 the hand, and the ear, to convey the vibrations of 
 sound, requires corresponding perfection. The brain, 
 we have said, is still more delicately formed to mani- 
 fest the operations of mind, a superadded principle, so 
 subtile in its character as to forever elude the knife of 
 the mechanical and microscopic anatomist. Motion 
 of the brain is as requisite to the production of thought 
 as motion of the muscle is for flexion or extension ; in 
 fact, motion and thought appear to be inseparable; that 
 is to say, motion is an indispensable accompaniment of 
 thought, yet there may be, and no doubt is motion of- 
 the brain without thought; but it is that motion arising 
 from nutrition — having its origin in the vegetative sys- 
 tem of man. Some authors have ingeniously argued, 
 however erroneously, that thought is not the result of 
 motion of the brain, because, say they, the blood flows 
 to the head and produces motion while we sleep, con- 
 sequently we ought to think as well when asleep as 
 awake. But they should remember that the same 
 blood also during rest, is carried to every part of the 
 body as well as to the brain, and produces the pheno- 
 mena or motions of nutrition and secretion, without 
 those of sensation or voluntary motion. Consequently, 
 
78 ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 there are in the system, two distinct motions, — the one 
 involuntary, arising from the nerves of the base of the 
 brain and spinal chord, uninfluenced by the will, and 
 constantly going on, whether waking or sleeping, to 
 repair the waste of secretion; the other arising from the 
 superior portion of the brain, to be exercised at plea- 
 sure — while waking, in thought and voluntary motion. 
 These motions, whether voluntary or involuntary, ap- 
 pear also to be inseparably connected with Electrical 
 action. In the vegetable world, by the play of affini- 
 ties between the particles of matter, Electrical currents 
 are constantly evolved, as in the silent and vital changes 
 in the germination of seeds, the respiration and growth 
 of plants, decay and decomposition. For Poullet says: 
 '/the surplus Electricity arising from a verdant area of 
 one hundred square yards, is sufficient to charge a 
 powerful battery" — and Faraday further declares that 
 "the quantity necessary to separate a single grain of 
 water, would produce a strong flash of lightning. " 
 The same thing precisely takes place in the living sys- 
 tem. Electricity is inhaled at every breath. It is dis- 
 engaged by the decarbonization of the blood, evolved 
 by the various processes of digestion, nutrition, secre- 
 tion and excretion, under the control of the vegetative 
 system, to be taken up by the voluntary and held in 
 reserve, as occasion may serve, for the various purpo- 
 ses of life, or to be again secreted by the brain for the 
 higher manifestations of mind The hours of repose 
 during the stillness of night, is the period chosen by 
 nature for this accumulation of nervous energy. 
 " Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." 
 
 Young. 
 
ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 79 
 
 This accumulation is still further aided by the laws 
 of insulation or Electro-retention, observed by nature 
 in the construction of the human body. Prof. Means 
 observes that it is particularly displayed in the contour 
 of the body, the rotundity and smoothness of the sur- 
 face being less favorable for its escape, than if it were 
 pointed and rough. Even where use requires the parts 
 to be pointed, (which is well known to Philosophers to 
 be favorable to the escape of Electricity,) they are tipped 
 with non-conductors, such as the hoofs of animals, the 
 claws of beasts and birds, and the nails of the fingers. 
 Marshall Hall says that "the organs of secretion are found 
 with non-conducting investments. Besides the nervous 
 sheath, the sanguiferous tubes, oleaginous accompani- 
 ments of the exposed outposts of the system, are fenced 
 in by a general subcutaneous expansion of adipose tis- 
 sue, itself surmounted by a final and admirably insula- 
 ting investment, the squamous cuticle." But experi- 
 ment is the touchstone of Philosophy, and to this we 
 shall now proceed, first showing the means by which 
 the negative state of mind is most likely to be induced, 
 and following a description of some of the most inter- 
 esting experiments, by such comments as naturally 
 grow out of the subject. 
 
 The process or means of inducing the magnetic 
 state commonly used by public lecturers, is as follows: 
 If it is in a public audience, cause your subjects, or 
 those willing to be experimented on, to sit together and 
 as much removed from the audience as possible, as 
 they are then less liable to be disturbed by trifling and 
 inquisitive persons near them. Enjoin on the entire 
 company the importance of the most perfect silence. 
 
gO ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 Request your subjects to sit in that position, least fati- 
 guing to the muscles. Require them particularly to ob- 
 serve the utmost quietness and submission, to lay aside 
 all thought, to avoid all motions of the body or limbs, 
 snapping of the eyelids, (fee. Then place a ?nagnetic 
 button, in either hand, of all your subjects, upon which 
 the eyes must be fixed for the space of fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, they maintaining throughout, the strictest si- 
 lence, thoughtlessness, and passiveness of body and 
 mind. The magnetic button may be made to suit the 
 fancy, out of copper and zinc — a dime, or anything 
 else convenient; for there is, in reality, no inherent 
 virtue in the button itself, as some lecturers really pre- 
 tend and believe; but it is well, however, to give the 
 impression that some singular power resides in the thing 
 held, as such an impression is more likely to arrest and 
 secure the attention of the sitters, and consequently 
 more likely to effect the desired result. The audience 
 should not only maintain profound silence throughout 
 the sitting, but also during the experiments, —for ail 
 noises tend to restore the negative electric brain to its 
 proper balance, and spoil the interest of the spectators. 
 After the lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes, approach 
 your subject, gently remove the button, take hold of 
 his right hand with your right, and raise it to a slight 
 elevation; tell him to place his eyes in yours; assume 
 yourself an air of seriousness and earnestness; pass your 
 left hand gently along his arm and at the same time 
 tell him that he feels a numbness or pain following 
 your finger. If he says he does, you may conclude 
 your subject is in a negative state, — that is, negative to 
 impressions, and you may proceed to carry the numb- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 81 
 
 ness across his shoulders, down the opposite arm and 
 discharge it at the ends of his fingers. If you cannot 
 by these assertions make any impression on him, that 
 is, feel any numbness, it is best to leave him and go to 
 the next, for he is but slightly magnetic, and you will 
 have much difficulty in operating if you succeed at all. 
 You may close the eyes by taking his hand as before, 
 place the thumb of the left hand between the brows, 
 gaze at him steadfastly a few seconds to engage his at- 
 tention, then tell him to close his eyes, at the same time 
 press gently with your thumb and say positively — "Now 
 you cannot open them — no you can't, sir." Q,uickly 
 remove the impression by a gentle slap on the shoulder. 
 with the assertion — "now you can, sir." 
 
 The experiments should be performed as rapidly as 
 possible. The two already mentioned, are generally 
 the easiest performed, but as has been already said, that 
 some portions. of the brain may be magnetic and others 
 not; so that the failure of one or both of these should 
 not discourage the operator, as he may^ succeed in oth- 
 ers. Before commencing any experiment or making 
 any impression, you are more likely to succeed if you 
 tell your subject to look steadily at you, as you thus 
 secure his passiveness and re-charge the battery. 
 Sometimes you will but partially succeed, for your 
 subject may still have some control over himself. In 
 that case, you must make him gaze at you steadily, — 
 arrest and turn his attention, and double your assertions. 
 For this reason, unless your subjects are highly mag- 
 netic, your experiments should be short, for gradually 
 consciousness will return, combat your assertion, and 
 
 render your success less complete and satisfactory to the 
 4 # 
 
32 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY 
 
 audience. Every impression you make, especially if 
 it be triflings amusive, or any thing but one by which 
 you intend to benefit, should be removed before ma- 
 king a new one, and this can always be done by a slap 
 on the shoulder, with "all right, sir." "Now you can 
 sir.'? But to proceed, you may fasten your subject to 
 his seat so that he cannot rise, by engaging his atten- 
 tion, making a few passes down his legs, then tell him 
 he cannot get up. Place his hands on his head, at the 
 same time you do it yourself— then tell him he cannot 
 take (hem down and he cannot. You may make any 
 assertion you please if your subject is a good one and 
 he will believe you. You may change the taste of 
 water to that of wine, or vinegar to that of brandy, the 
 various colors at your pleasure, the shape of substances 
 to any thing you like, as a cap or a hat to a frog or a 
 terrapin, a stick to a snake; the individual himself, no 
 matter how humble or modest, may be , transformed 
 into the dauntless and vaunting warrior, or the bashful 
 lover into the impertinent wooer. In fact, the experi- 
 ments may be varied to any extent, according to the 
 ingenuity and skill of the operator ; his assertions will 
 always have a magical effect, especially if he seem 
 really to believe what he says, and accompanies it with 
 corresponding action or gesture. For in this as in 
 other things, the maxim of IJorace is true to the letter: 
 
 "Si vis me flere 
 Est tibi flere." 
 
 "If you wish me to weep you must weep yourself." 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell longer on the mechanical 
 
 part of the operating. Any one possessing a reasonable 
 
 amount of common sense can vary the experiments 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. S3 
 
 according to circumstances; Having in possession the 
 key, it is only left for him skillfully to play the mechan- 
 ical part to lend interest to his exhibition in producing the 
 most startling phenomena. Success is always improved 
 by practice, and a great number of lecturers look upon 
 the production of these phenomena as the ne plus ultra 
 of the science. Its principles and its practical utility 
 they never aim to acquire, but to such we would say, if 
 you succeed in inducing a magnetic state in any way un- 
 looked for or alarming, never manifest any alarm your- 
 self, (for remember your motions produce exact vibra- 
 tions and impressions on your subject,) but endeavor by 
 cheerfulness and assurance of '* all right," to restore 
 your subject (o his natural and normal state. 
 
 The truly philosophic and scientific mind should 
 look a little deeper than the surface, and aim at some- 
 thing more than mechanical operations. Its applica- 
 tion to the removal of disease, is an auxiliary means, 
 and justly belongs to the class of remedial agents. 
 Many diseases may be cured and more relieved by its 
 skillful application. But how is this to be effected? 
 What is its philosophy? Here we have to combat the 
 prejudices of those reared in the science and rules of 
 the schools. They cannot perceive utility m anything 
 not sanctioned by a name ancient and venerable only 
 by age. But let them investigate the laws of health 
 and disease, as founded in nature, and the true secret 
 will be made apparent. 
 
 The vis medicatrix naturae, being the resident power 
 in the subject, these sittings in private may be turned to 
 advantage by invalids; for if you produce the magnetic 
 state, and by assertion make him forget his pain, it is a 
 
84 
 
 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY 
 
 remission, and if by repetition you can prolong his re- 
 lief from suffering to an indefinite period, it is health. 
 By making the assertion, by consequence impression, 
 you can very often by operating on the belief of the 
 patient set up a motion, that restores to health. But 
 this may be better understood as we proceed in the 
 consideration of the Philosophy of Impressions. 
 
 What are we to gather from these numerous experi- 
 ments? If rightly considered, they lead to the disco- 
 very of important principles, concerned in the actions 
 of men. It is true, they may be said to be extremes of 
 a state or condition of mind, which in its normal state, 
 receives and accredits the actions and words of another. 
 But they lead to practical results, and are illustrative of 
 the nature of impressions, by which the few have con- 
 trolled the many in all ages of the world. 
 
 That a state of mind above alluded to, can be in- 
 duced, any one wishing to know the truth, can readily 
 test, having a little practice and becoming acquainted 
 with the mechanical process. If human testimony be 
 competent to establish the existence of such phenome- 
 na, then its existence has been supported by the solemn 
 declaration of witnesses who have experienced its ef- 
 fects, and whose veracity is unquestionable. But 
 we do not beg the question on the issue of an expe- 
 riment. Take some of the accredited facts of sacred 
 and profane history, and what are they but instances 
 of an exhibition of the same phenomena, brought 
 about by a different combination of circumstances. 
 
 Witness the effect of the cursings of the ancient 
 priesthood upon criminals spoken of by Anacharsis. 
 
 " The Priesthood of Athens by an order of the Ma- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 85 
 
 gistracy, looking towards the west, would shake their 
 purple robes, and doom to the infernal deities the crim- 
 inal and all his posterity. From that moment the fu- 
 ries were supposed to seize upon him and his connex- 
 ions, and never abate their torments, but with the total 
 extinction of his race." 
 
 The button which an individual may hold, the chair 
 in which he sits, the silence of the room, are but so 
 many circumstances, possessing in themselves no in- 
 trinsic merit, apart from the resident forces in the body 
 of the subject, they simply conspire to induce passive- 
 ness of the brain. Any other agent or combination of 
 agents or circumstances would have the same effect, act- 
 ing on the same principle, nay more, and far more per- 
 manent as we shall show in the course of these lec- 
 tures. 
 
 Before, however, entering into the philosophy of im- 
 pressions, we shall have to speak of motion and its ef- 
 fects, and here we will make a few extracts from the 
 interesting work of Dr. Lardner on the effect of motion 
 in producing vision, &c. "The sun or lamp," says 
 he "acting on this ether, (that is, the connecting 
 medium between the earth and sun,) puts it into a 
 state of pulsation, the vibrations passing through it 
 as those of sound through the air. This pulsaiion 
 is propagated to the eye, reaches the retina and puts 
 that, delicate membrane into a state of tremulous mo- 
 tion, which is the proximate cause of impression of 
 light, produced in the mind. The various colors, 
 blue, green, &c, are nothing more than the effects 
 of the different rates of pulsation imparted to the 
 retina. The vibrations varying in individuals have 
 
g5 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 led to different impressions in regard to colors. There 
 are hundreds of persons who are never able to distin- 
 guish by their colors, the cherries upon a tree from its 
 leaves. The celebrated Dugald Stuart, the well 
 known chemist Dalton — many other names might be 
 mentioned, of persons who were unable to distinguish 
 the different colors. By a little management we may 
 be able to see bodies that do not exist, and if we take 
 the evidence of the senses on these points, we should 
 be lead to believe in all sorts of spectres — the effect 
 of fictitious vibrations produced by various causes. 
 Take a slick of red sealing-wax and place it between 
 the eye and a sheet of white paper ; after keeping the 
 eye steadily fixed on (he wax for a short time, look 
 beside it, and you will see a stick of blue wax as dis- 
 tinctly as you perceived the red wax. In this way 
 a succession of spectres may be produced. Thus by 
 looking steadily at a red wafer for a short time, you 
 will be able to see beside it, the ghost of a blue wafer, 
 and conversely a blue wafer will give birth to a red 
 one — these two colors being correlative to each other. 
 The retina by the action of the one is put into a state 
 of morbid vibration, by which the effect is produced. 
 It is explicable, by supposing that when the retina is 
 put into a slate of pulsation, its motions continue for a 
 short time just as a bell continues to ring for spme se- 
 conds after it has been struck." 
 
 The vibrations of the retina may be still further il- 
 lustrated by an exceedingly interesting experiment. 
 Let an individual stand upon an insulated stool, plac- 
 ing his hand upon the knob of the principal conductor 
 of an electric machine in motion and fixing his eye 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 87 
 
 upon a revolving deeply serrated wheel — the rapidity 
 of whose revolutions, will of course, give it the appear- 
 ance of a perfectly solid surface. If then a spark be 
 drawn from the eye, the wheel seems instantly to pause 
 and presents the teeth perfect, with the intermediate 
 spaces perfectly visible. What here, but an arrest of 
 motion could give rise to this appearance. 
 
 (l If two beams of light be admitted through small 
 apertures in a screen, and be made to cross each 
 other, under certain circumstances so that they fall upon 
 the same point they destroy each other, and a black spot 
 is observed at the point of intersection. If either of the 
 beams be intercepted, the spot becomes luminous, but if 
 both be allowed to fall upon it together it becomes black; 
 either of the two will illuminate it. The two systems 
 of waves or pulsations, here obliterate each other." 
 A bell hung in an exhaused receiver, cannot be heard 
 when rung by machinery, although that may be dis- 
 tinctly seen in motion. Light, heat and electricity 
 pass equally well through a vacuum, *s through the 
 atmosphere, so that the eye must see through a higher 
 o.r different medium from that which produces hearing. 
 But whether we pass from inanimate to animate matter, 
 and watch the motions of the living, the chain is still 
 unbroken. Man is not an isolated being, independent 
 of the earth's action. Nay, dust he is and unto dust 
 he must return. His body possesses elements in com- 
 mon with the earth and in its ratio of proximity har- 
 monizes with the mother of all flesh. Without air and 
 water man cannot survive. The ear can only hear 
 and the eye can*only see in concert with organized 
 nature, the great principles involved in the government 
 
SS ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 of the one, are manifest in the other. If then Philos- 
 ophy has demonstrated the existent forces of the earth 
 to be electric or galvanic, common inference without an 
 examination into the human system, would irrisistibly 
 suggest the residence of like forces in the body ; and 
 that play of principles, that resolves the particles of the 
 one, in their varied transmutations, is but a modifi- 
 cation of those that continue life in health, and all but 
 a link in the same chain that binds an atom and a 
 universe. 
 
 We come now, briefly, to consider the nature of the 
 human brain, and we prefer to give the acknowledged 
 views of the most distinguished physiologists, as our 
 inferences will be drawn from their premises. 
 
 The term brain designates those parts of the nervous 
 system, exclusive of the nerves themselves, which 
 are contained within the cranium or skull bones. 
 They are the cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla oblon- 
 gata. These are invested, and protected by mem- 
 branes. The whole together constitute the encephalon 
 from the Greek en, in, and kephale, head. 
 
 The brain is of a pulpy character, quite soft in 
 infancy and childhood, but it gradually becomes more 
 and more consistent and at middle life it assumes the 
 form of determinate structure and arrangement. It is 
 more abundantly supplied with blood than any other 
 part of the system, about, one-sixth of all the blood goes 
 to supply the brain, yet it is not more than one-thirtieth 
 of the whole body. 
 
 The brain is regarded by Physiologists and Philoso- 
 phers as the organ of the mind. Most writers consider 
 it as an aggregate of parts each charged with specific 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 89 
 
 functions and that these functions are the highest and 
 most*important in the animal economy. To the large 
 brain or cerebral lobes they ascribe the seat of the faculties 
 of thinking, memory and the will. To the cerebellum 
 or little brain the seat of the animal or lower propensities. 
 
 The constant relation between mental power and 
 developement of brain explains why capacities and 
 dispositions are so different, and shows incontrovertably 
 that the cultivation of the moral and intellectual facul- 
 ties can be successfully carried on only by acting in 
 obedience to the laws of organization. 
 
 The brain likewise holds an important relation to 
 all the other organs of the system. To the muscular 
 system it imparts an influence which induces contract 
 tions of the fibres. By this relation they are brought 
 under the control of the will. The digestive, respira- 
 tory and circulatory apparatus are enabled to perform 
 their functions, by the influence imparted to them by the 
 cerebral organs of the nervous system. 
 
 As the different organs of the system are dependent 
 on the brain and spinal cord for efficient functional ac- 
 tion, and as the mind and brain are closely associated 
 during life, the former acting in strict obedience to 
 the laws which regulate the latter, it becomes an ob- 
 ject of primary importance in education to discover 
 what these laws are, that we may yield them willing 
 obedience, and escape the numerous evils consequent 
 on their violation. 
 
 The evils arising from excessive or ill-timed exer- 
 cise of the brain or any of its parts, are numerous and 
 equally at variance with the ordinary laws of physiolo- 
 gy. When we use the eye too long or in too bright a 
 
90 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 light, it becomes bloodshot. The increased action of 
 its vessels and nerves, gives rise to a sensation of fatigue 
 and pain, requiring us to desist. If we relieve the eye, 
 the irritation gradually subsides and the healthy state 
 returns. But if we continue to look intently or resume 
 our employment before the eye has regained its natural 
 state of repose, the irritation at last becomes permanent 
 and disease is followed by weakness of vision, or even 
 blindness may ensue. 
 
 Phenomena precisely analogous occur from intense 
 mental excitement, if the brain is kept long in a state 
 of excessive activity. Sir Astley Cooper, on ex- 
 amining the head of a young man brought to him who 
 had lost a portion of his skull, just above the eye-brow, 
 says, " I distinctly saw that the pulsation of the brain 
 was regular and slow, but at this time he was agitated 
 by some opposition to his wishes and directly the blood 
 was sent with increased force to the brain and the pul- 
 sations became frequent and violent." Indeed in 
 many instances the increased circulation in the brain 
 attendant on high mental excitement reveals itself, 
 when least expected, and leaves traces after death, 
 which are very perceptible. When tasked beyond its 
 strength, the eye becomes insensible to light and no 
 longer conveys any impression to the mind. In like 
 manner, the brain when much exhausted becomes in- 
 capable of thought, and conciousness is almost lost in a 
 feeling of utter confusion. If study or composition be 
 ardently engaged in towards midnight, the increased 
 action or motion of the brain, which always accompa- 
 nies activity of mind, requires a long time in which to 
 subside. 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 91 
 
 Now what does all this mean? These are princi- 
 ples acknowledged by most physiologists, and as yet 
 nothing contrary to these views has been discovered. 
 Here they speak of action, or motion of the brain, a 
 vascular excitement always accompanying mental ac- 
 tivity, intense mental action producing so great motion 
 as to injure the structure of the brain. The compari- 
 son above spoken of between the eye and the brain; 
 the case cited by Sir Astley Cooper, are so palpably de- 
 monstrative of a cerebral motion accompanying mental 
 action, that to dwell longer on this part of the subject 
 would be a needless task. Many points in the pre- 
 ceding' extracts will be passed over without notice in 
 connexion with the Philosophy of Impressions, they 
 being left to the suggestions of the reader. 
 
 Now then if thought produces motion, atomic mo- 
 tion of the brain, that motion is in concert with thought 
 as much so, as the vibration of a string to a given par- 
 ticular note. The brain may indeed be compared to 
 a harp; the mind, the performer, whose touch on its 
 delicate strings, produces vibrations that result in 
 thought, which may be termed the music or language 
 of the soul. Derange the cords of this delicate instru- 
 ment by sickness, or otherwise, and the mental tone 
 will vary with its tencion or looseness; embracing every 
 variety of morbid mental phenomena, whether wit- 
 nessed in the ravings of the maniac, or seen in the fat- 
 uous play of the idiot. 
 
 Take a circular brass plate, about eighteen inches in 
 circumference, and one-twelfth of an inch in thickness 
 of a smooth surface, supported at its centre, by a brass 
 rod, and the rod connected with a pedestal of wood. 
 
92 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 A square plate may be used, supported in like man- 
 ner. Now sprinkle black sand upon either plate, then 
 take hold of the brass rod with the left hand in such a 
 manner as to allow the thumb to press against any 
 part of the plate from the centre to the circumference. 
 Then by drawing a well rosined bow on the side of the 
 plate, the vibrations thus given to the plate and modi- 
 tied by the pressure of the thumb, will cause the parti- 
 cles of sand to arrange themselves with mathematical 
 precision in figures varying, according to the ingenuity 
 and skill of the operator, in shifting his thumb and 
 drawing the bow. The experiment was first made by 
 a German philosopher. 
 
 The same harmony may be supposed to exist in the 
 higher organization of matt r, but in a higher degree, 
 and an infinite variety of developement, arid that the 
 mind discriminates the difference of vibration. In 
 music the single string had virtually no new sound, 
 posssessing only originally the capacity for vibration, 
 but it required a Paganini to bring out the harmony 
 and^variety of its sound, so with the human brain, 
 great occasions bring out extraordinary developements 
 of human mind. 
 
 The continued exercise of the mind in one particu- 
 lar direction excites of necessity a special cerebral mo- 
 tion and renders that portion of the brain more easily 
 set in motion. The miser, by constantly exercising 
 his acquisitiveness at last can think of, and adore no- 
 thing but his mammon. The imaginative and credu- 
 lous mind can easily be made to see, " things that are 
 not to be seen." Ghosts are seen upon this principle, 
 the darkness of the night, the indistinctness of objects, 
 
ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 93 
 
 the stillness, all conspire to produce a passiveness of 
 brain, save that of credenciveness, till finally the cere- 
 bral action becomes so intense as at last to present the 
 mental picture of a ghost, or give properties to vision, 
 that clothe a post, a bush, a tree, in habiliments of the 
 grave; and the longer and more intent the individual 
 looks, the more accurately can he define its propor- 
 tions. 
 
 We are also to infer from the premises, and indeed 
 all experience goes to prove, that the impressions 
 of one, are likely to become the impressions of the 
 many, under similar circumstances, and also that the 
 mind has the power of originating motion from within, 
 or receiving it from without, that is to say there is a 
 motion from within and a motion from without, by 
 which impressions are given and received or prevented. 
 What was it that spread the epilepsy in the school 
 spoken of by Boerhaave. The first boy that fell down 
 in a fit, at once arrested the attention of the other boys. 
 The brain became passive, and soon the motions of 
 the epileptic boy, excited corresponding motions *in 
 another, a fit followed, and so it continued, one after 
 another, until Boerhaave set up a counter motion in the 
 minds of the rest, more powerful than the existing im- 
 pression, by declaring he would thrust a red hot poker 
 through the leg of the next boy taken. Here then is 
 a remarkable example of the impressions or motions of 
 the one affecting the rest in like manner, also of one 
 motion from without, exciting another from within, 
 which resisted or overcame the epileptic impression. 
 
 How is it in the swoon or faint, arising from witness- 
 ing a surgical operation. The surgeon's mind is so 
 
94 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 occupied, that the action is from within, an internal 
 cerebral action in conceit with mental activity, which 
 so controls the force of circumstances surrounding him 
 as sometimes to cause even the screams of (he patient 
 not to be heard by him. An interesting anecdote is 
 related of Dr. Physic, while performing a capital 
 operation. The patient screamed most lustily, and 
 heaped innumerable imprecations on him, until the 
 limb was amputated and the wound dressed, when 
 the Doctor very innocently asked of the spectators, if 
 the patient had made any noise. Not so, however, is 
 it with the looker on in these cases. Here the brain 
 becomes passive, for want of thought; the writhings of 
 the subject, the gaping wound; the spouting blood 
 find a brain prepared to respond, and hence the feel- 
 ings of horror and faint. Here then the action is from 
 without, inwards, and no counter-motion from an ac- 
 tive brain to reverse and modify it. 
 
 That continued exercise of the mind in one particu- 
 lar direction, of which we have spoken, in exciting a 
 special cerebral action; thus rendering that portion of 
 the brain more easily set in motion, may account for 
 many of those curious and interesting cases termed the 
 wanderings of the mind in death. " Dr. Armstrong,' ' 
 we are told, "died delivering medical precepts; Napo- 
 leon fought some battle o'er again, and the last words 
 he muttered were tete d'armes; Lord Tenterden, who 
 passed straight from the judgement seat to his death- 
 bed, fancied himself still presiding at trial, and expired 
 with Cl Gentlemen of the jury, you will consider your 
 verdict." Dr. Adam, author of the i Roman Antiqui- 
 ties ' imagined himself in school, distributing praise and 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 95 
 
 censure among his pupils: 'But it is growing dark,' 
 he said, 'the boys may dismiss '—and instantly died. 
 The physician, soldier, judge, schoolmaster had each 
 their thoughts on their several professions, and believed 
 themselves engaged in the business of life, when life 
 itself was issuing out through their lips. Whether 
 such words are always evidence of internal concious- 
 ness may admit of a doubt. The mind is capable of 
 pursuing a beaten track without attending to its own 
 operations, and the least impulse will set it going when 
 every other power has fled. De Lagny was asked 
 the square of twelve when he was unable to recognise 
 his friends about his bed, and mechanically answered 
 ' one hundred and forty-four.' — Repetitions of poetry 
 are frequent in this condition, and there is usually a 
 want of coherence and intonation which appears to in- 
 dicate a want of intelligence, and leaves the conviction 
 expressed by Dr. Symonds, that the understanding is 
 passive." 
 
 The only rational conclusion, therefore that we can 
 arrive at, is that the active and passive conditions of 
 the brain constitute the great secret of man's impressi- 
 bility. His condition may be dependent either on a 
 voluntary or involuntary cessation of thought, or the 
 force of surrounding circumstances, controlling and 
 neutralising the existing motion. But some deny the 
 power of impressions, and declare man cannot be in- 
 fluenced by man. He that makes the assertion, how- 
 ever, knows but little of his own character. He is but 
 a tyro in the knowledge of human nature and the 
 workings of an active brain. All history goes to prove 
 the converse, both sacred and profane. Were not the 
 
96 ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 prophets stoned, the saints imprisoned and a Savior 
 slain by the influence of a few turbulent and wicked 
 spirits over the multitudes of their devotees? Did not 
 Alexander conquer Asia; Caesar over throw the Re- 
 public of Rome, and Napoleon become the terror of 
 Europe, by impressing their followers with a portion 
 of the ambitious fire that burned within their own 
 mighty minds? Was not the voice of Demosthenes, 
 that is, the influence of the impressions he made, more 
 powerful than the armies of Greece ? How often has 
 the burning eloquence of patriotism turned aside the 
 hydra-headed monster of sedition, anarchy and dis- 
 union, and saved the state from impending dissolu- 
 tion. 
 
 Man not influenced or impressed by man! The 
 biological experiment by which you arrest and con- 
 trol the thoughts of your subject, so that you seat 
 him and he cannot rise, is no more a stretch of power, 
 than that influence which causes the people to rise 
 in mass and steep their hands in the blood of the inno- 
 cent. Did reason hold her sway, it would not be thus ? 
 Did sober second thought prevail, the mob-spirit would 
 die away ? 
 
 Man not influenced! Whence the turbulence of 
 Demagogueism, or the ravings of fanaticism? Does 
 not the one appeal to popular prejudice, to work out 
 selfish ends, and succeed? Does not the other con- 
 taminate the ears of those who listen, by trampling 
 under foot the simplest dictates of common sense? 
 Was ever sentiment more forcibly set forth than that 
 of Byron, 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 97 
 
 Religion, freedom, vengeance what you will, 
 A word's enough to raise mankind to kill ; 
 Some party phrase by cunning caught and spread, 
 That guilt may reign and wolves and worms be fed 
 
 The Doctrine of Impressions runs parallel with 
 man's existence, and as it was witnessed in the first 
 creation — Adam, so will it be seen until the end, 
 whereof is eternity. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 Object of sitting. — Negative state of mind. — Portions of the brain 
 magnetized. — Anecdote of the Irishman and Indian. — The 
 magnetic state but a fragment of Impressions. — Mesmerism. 
 Clairvoyance. — Miracles. 
 
 Electricity is often made visible in the motions of 
 matter, and when we speak of motion, as concerned in 
 producing certain phenomena, we mean certain elec- 
 trical conditions. <( A great body of facts/' says Sir 
 James Mcintosh, lc might be adduced to show, that all 
 animal motion may be traced to electrical action." 
 Motion and thought in the mind, seem to be as in- 
 separable, as motion and temperature in physics, and 
 motion may be resolved into the electrical conditions 
 of attraction and repulsion. The object therefore of 
 sitting is, to tranquilize the mind, to force the brain 
 to leave off its action and bring it to a state of unity 
 and passiveness. By action is meant, motion, that ato- 
 mic cerebral motion, which is always accompanied 
 with an electrical expenditure. When an individual 
 maintains a perfect passiveness of the brain and a still- 
 ness of the muscles, there is in the system an accumu- 
 lation of the electric or vital fluids, which are constant- 
 ly evolved by the chemical and other changes silently 
 going on, else why the use of sleep and rest to the 
 wearied brain and limbs. Why not perpetual thought, 
 incessant labor, never ending toil? 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. * 99 
 
 In the formation of the body, there is also the ut- 
 most care taken for its retention by the perfect and 
 wonderful insulation displayed, which retention is 
 without doubt intended to subserve the higher powers 
 of nature — the mental manifestations, sensations and 
 voluntary motions, whose action is always accom- 
 panied with electrical waste. That motion of the brain 
 produces thought, we have abundant evidence. What 
 is it, that causes delirium in fevers, but the increased 
 arterial excitement producing a too great atomic cere- 
 bral motion? What surer method of causing restless- 
 ness, than to get the mind excited before retiring to rest ? 
 To lay and revolve difficult and abstruse subjects, is to 
 set up an action in the brain that does not readily subside, 
 and the vibrations thus produced, often in spite of all 
 efforts to prevent it, keep up thought, and that thought 
 again reacts and keeps up motion in the brain even 
 after apparent and partial sleep has supervened, giving 
 rise to dreams, disturbed sleep, and frightful images 
 flitting across the imagination. 
 
 A most remarkable example, illustrative of this part 
 of the subject, is related by Dr. Gregory, who has no 
 doubt of its correctness. The person alluded to was 
 an officer of distinction, and his companions were in the 
 habit of amusing themselves at his expense. " Thev 
 could produce in him any kind of dream, by whispering 
 in his ear, especially if this was done by a friend, with 
 whose voice he was familiar. At one time they con- 
 ducted him through the whole progress of a quarrel 
 which ended in a duel ; and when the parties were 
 supposed to be met, a pistol was put in his hand, 
 
100 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 which he fired, and was awakened by the report. On 
 another occasion they found him asleep on the top of 
 a locker or bunker in the cabin, when they made him 
 believe he had fallen overboard, and exhorted him to 
 save himself by swimming; he immediately imitated all 
 the motions of swimming; they told him, that a shark 
 was pursuing' him, and entreated him to dive for his 
 life; he instantly did so with such force as to throw 
 himself entirely from the locker on the cabin floor, by 
 which he was much bruised, and awakened of course." 
 This case illustrates two very important points; first, 
 that the whispering in his ear, excited vibrations in 
 the auditory nerves,that these vibrations communicated 
 motion to the brain, and that the atomic motion thus 
 set up in the brain gave rise to the dreams, otherwise 
 thoughts; secondly, their being able to produce cuty 
 kind of dream when the voice was familiar, shows fur- 
 ther that the words must be intelligible, in order to 
 produce I he desired impression on the mngneiized sub- 
 ject, That a perfect stiffness and passiveriess of the 
 person, who may wish to he Operated on, is required, 
 must now be apparent. A whisper in the room may 
 produce a vibration on the auditory nerve, and that 
 vibration awaken motion in the brain, by consequence 
 thought and an electrical waste, which may frustrate 
 the object io be obtained — a cerebro-galvanic accumu- 
 lation or negative state of mind, a state absolutely pre- 
 requisite to a successful performance of biological ex- 
 periments. In impressible subjects (his state will gen- 
 erally be induced in from fifteen to twenty minutes, 
 and the operator should not wait longer, but go up to 
 hissiibjecf, remove (he magnetic buHon, gently take him 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 101 
 
 by the hand, and operate as before directed; being care- 
 ful to remember what has been said about motion of the 
 brain being the result of thought, and vice versa. 
 
 Lan^ua<xe is the common stimulus between man 
 and man, but not the only one, by which to convey 
 his ideas. Gesture may he termed mute language, 
 and is often as expressive as spoken. An assertion, 
 in the negative state alluded to, has a magic effect. A 
 thing is positively asserted, and that assertion becomes a 
 reality to the passive brain of the subject, for it should 
 be borne in mind, that the brain is perfectly passive or 
 motionless, and by necessity thoughtless; it is, as it were, 
 a perfect blank; all former images and impressions be- 
 ing, temporarily blotted out of the memory by the 
 accumulation of the electrical agent, as figures in 
 wax are softened down by heat and made ready to 
 receive new forms and shapes, or as an unblotted sheet, 
 ready to receive in legible characters the (i thoughts 
 that breathe and words that burn," or the unspotted 
 canvass the glowing image of the painter. The as- 
 sertion, therefore, vibrating the connecting medium be- 
 tween the external and internal existence through 
 the ear, produces exact and regular vibrations in the 
 auditory nerve, consequently an atomic cerebral mo- 
 tion, sui generis ^ with the assertion; that motion in 
 turn produces thought; that thought, the result of the 
 assertion, and hence but an echo, of the one first having 
 its existence in the mind of the operator. The sub- 
 ject thus becomes wholly obedient to external forces, 
 and cannot, by any possibility, correct or control the 
 impressions made upon his brain, until it so far returns 
 
1 02 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 to its normal state, as to originate thought of its own, 
 wherewith to combat the assertion of the operator. 
 
 Portions of the brain may become magnetic or nega- 
 tive, while others remain in a normal state, or are but 
 partially charged. The operator will, therefore, fail in 
 some experiments, no matter how hard he may try, 
 yet succeed with the greatest ease in others; thus he 
 may not be able to close the eyes, the simplest and 
 generally the first experiment, yet will succeed in fas- 
 tening his subject to the floor, changing the taste of 
 water, wine, &c. If two violins, tuned precisely alike, 
 are placed in a room, a tune played upon one, will 
 be breathed upon the strings of the other with the ut- 
 most exactitude. But if three strings only of the second 
 are tuned like the first, the fourth will give discordant 
 notes. Now the brain of the individual may be com- 
 pared to the tuned violin, and the sound, to the voice 
 of the operator, producing that cerebral motion, that 
 produces thought, and that thought the same as the 
 operator's, when emanating from the magnetized por- 
 tions of the brain, but discordant when from the un- 
 magnetized. The sound to have its effect, must be in- 
 telligible to the subject, as our ideas have come to us 
 through this medium, and we have learned to discrimi- 
 nate by variations of sound, what is meant by the in? 
 dividual addressing us. What is intelligible to one, 
 therefore, may not be so to another. Much may be 
 said of gesture, which may be termed the universal 
 language of nature. The subject, being in full pos- 
 session of the power of vision, will imitate gestures, ex- 
 pressive of anguish, joy or fear, as perfectly as if 
 the vibrations of the connecting medium were stirred 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY 1 03 
 
 by the language of sound. The following anecdote 
 of an Irishman and an Indian, is a most ludicrous ex- 
 ample of Impressions in which the sounds were only 
 seemingly intelligible. An Irishman, meeting an In- 
 dian one morning, said to him, " The top of the morn- 
 ing to ye." The Indian replied in his own vernacular 
 something like " We see you," (how are you.) " You 
 see me, ha! and be Jabers, I see you," responded (he 
 son of Erin somewhat sharply. The Indian again 
 said, u Skine ke neck," meaning you are a bad man. 
 u Skin me neck, will ye," says the Irishman, "you 
 blasted Ingin, I'll skin your neck," and with the words 
 commenced belaboring him. The Indian now said, 
 li Nock a wah," that is u Quit." u Knock away,1ia! 
 and be Jabers I will," and he continued to deal him 
 the blows. 
 
 The magnetic state induced by the common mode 
 of sittings, is insignificant, when compared to other 
 states. It is but a fragment of the doctrine of Impres- 
 sions, a link only of the great electric chain, very small 
 indeed, yet illustrative of an important and all pervading 
 principle in society. The magnetic button and the 
 operator are significant of the drama of life — an object 
 to concentrate and a stimulus to propel. Mobs have 
 their lise and run their terrible career on the samepiin- 
 ciple. The blazing torch, the axe, the bludgeon, the 
 crowd, may be the rrfagnetic button. These negative 
 the brain, thought is arrested or directed to one parti- 
 cular thing, so absorbing, that other portions become 
 passive, that is, the motions of the mob soon occupy 
 alone the thoughts of the beholder; every thing eke is 
 forgotten; and it requires great moral stamina to resist 
 
104 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 the influence. The dread cholera not unfrequently ne- 
 gatives the mind by the funeral pall, the habiliments 
 of mourning, and suspension of business. Inaction or 
 passiveness follows, and the patient is easily impressed 
 with " fear and trembling," by the great Impressor. 
 He sinks and dies, more through the terror of its name, 
 than the reality of its pangs. 
 
 A remarkable case of Impression or fascination oc- 
 curred to a gentleman residing near Republic, Ohio, 
 who believed in the charming of snakes. He, to con- 
 vince a friend, accordingly repaired one day to a neigh- 
 boring wood, and it was not long before they found a 
 copperhead. He told his friend to stand back and 
 watch the process, and when he discovered that the 
 snake had fascinated him, and he began to approach it, 
 to interfere and release him from so dangerous a 
 charmer. He fixed his eyes on the snake for about 
 twenty minutes, he became perfectly fascinated and 
 began to approach the snake, when his friend stepped 
 in to the rescue. How tin's was brought about, can 
 be easily accounted for. The snake served the pur- 
 pose of the magnetic button, and his keeping his eyea 
 fixed upon it rendered all other portions of his brain 
 passive, save that of faith, and thus he became very 
 easily impressed or charmed. Who is there, that after 
 listening 
 
 "To many a tale of fairy and of sprite," 
 has not had his mind -negatived by the darkness and 
 loneliness of a midnight excursion, and looked hither 
 and thither, with the expectation of seeing a hobgoblin 
 or a ghost; yet who has not dissipated every fear by 
 humming a tune or whistling a lively air, thus creating 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 105 
 
 excitement in the brain and motion in the mind, of a 
 different character. 
 
 Mesmerism. The practical utility of this subject 
 seems to be very doubtful, and this is believed to be 
 the sentiment of nineteen-tvventieths of those who have 
 investigated it. That numerous and startling pheno- 
 mena have been produced by the manipulations of its 
 advocates is not denied; but those phenomena may 
 have been the result of an occult cause, and that cause, 
 as has been shown, resident in the mind of the subject. 
 The mesmerizer and looker on, seeing effects follow 
 the apparent cause, look upon them a3 the all-pervading 
 principle. Let us suppose their ideas to be correct, 
 where is the practicability of it? In acting upon 
 masses you cannot paw the air, and your will, silently 
 expressed, will be as puerile as a whisper in a dead 
 man's ear. Apply it to the removal of disease, and 
 who are the subjects benefited by its use, but those in 
 whom the same results would have been produced by 
 any of the aforementioned agencies, under favorable 
 circumstances. If the remarkable cures effected by 
 these manipulations be adduced as evidence of the 
 theory, then charms, chants, exorcisms and amulets 
 are equally entitled to litigate the ground assumed, for 
 these all, have achieved, whatever can be claimed by 
 the followers of Mesmer. 
 
 Take the subject upon whom you wish to operate, 
 stand behind him, and by an effort of the will alone, at- 
 tempt to influence him, and you will have little or no 
 effect. Then try simply an assertion or a gesture, and 
 it will be magical. You have already been told, how 
 an assertion or a gesture acts, but mesmerizers believe 
 
106 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 that a fluid emanates from the operator and goes into 
 the body of the mesmerized, and many of them have 
 even felt weakened after operating. But who is it 
 that hard work will not weaken, especially when he 
 believes it ? The operator has even sometimes gone to 
 sleep himself in attempting to put his subject to sleep. 
 This has always been accounted for, by saying that 
 the subject was too strong — when in truth the mesmer- 
 izer permitted his brain to become still or passive first, 
 and hence first impressed. 
 
 What has been said of Mesmerism is equally appli- 
 cable to Clairvoyance. That such a state does exist 
 to a certain degree, and that there are individuals 
 who can be put into this state, or rather, who by a 
 combination of circumstances surrounding them, go 
 into the clairvoyant state, is not denied ; indepen- 
 dent, however, it is believed, of the will or mind of 
 the operator, and that when a clairvoyant becomes 
 so, it is in consequence of a principle existing and 
 acting entirely within himself. He is impressed 
 through a higher degree of the same medium, or 
 an extension of the principle by which it has been 
 contended, that biological experiments have been per- 
 formed. Prom some peculiar circumstances, the sub- 
 ject becomes so exceedingly magnetic, as to be in 
 equilibrio with the surrounding medium. 
 
 Remember, that thought produces motion of the 
 brain, if motion then an impression on the connecting 
 medium, hence an impression and motion, correspond- 
 ing in the brain of the subject. Independent clairvoy- 
 ance is loaded with the difficulty of assertion and ques- 
 tion of the operator, and that assertion and question 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 107 
 
 awaken motion, and that motion results in producing 
 erroneous conclusions. Hence such a state of mind 
 must be looked upon, as wholly impracticable in its 
 nature, as the peaks of the Andes or Appenines, in the 
 physical world, are for the residence of man, — regions of 
 perpetual snow and ice, too cold for his existence, and 
 unfit even for the erection of an observatory. So with 
 Clairvoyance in the moral world, yet some enthusiasts 
 go so far as to pretend to examine by its means, planets, 
 moons and stars, and have even laid impious hands upon 
 the land of spirits, where mortal ken knoweth not. 
 
 Many amusing accounts of their discoveries might 
 be given, yet the reader is referred to the many works 
 extant on the subject. Some have ingeniously argued 
 that in this state a man could read through the top or 
 back of his head, as well as through the eyes; that see- 
 ing by magnetic light, and magrfelism knowing no in- 
 sistence, therefore the subject could see. The beauti- 
 ful and classic writer Dodd has fallen into the same er- 
 ror. For although the premises be admitted, the in- 
 ference is gratuitous. He argues from the oft repeated 
 experiment, that if a piece of silver be placed under the 
 upper lip, and a piece of zinc upon the tongue — the 
 eyes being closed and the metals made to touch, a flash 
 of light will be visible. This, therefore, says he, is 
 proof positive (hat light is communicated to the brain 
 by galvanic action, that here the individual sees light 
 without eyes, and hence that a person can see as well 
 through the top of his head, by the same agency. Yet 
 these adepts in spirituality should remember, that the 
 infra-orbitor nerve which spreads out largely upon the 
 upper lip, becomes inducted by the action of the me- 
 
108 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY, 
 
 tals, and lying close in contact with the optic nerve, 
 inducts it. A blow over the eyes, will cause a flash of 
 light to be seen; even closing the eyes, so that no 
 external light can be perceived, and rubbing them pret- 
 ty hard with the knuckles will cause a succession of 
 bright sparks to be seen, yet a blow on the top of the 
 head, or rubbing it with the knuckles, will only be pro- 
 ductive of pain without the benefit of the light. It 
 might upon the same principle be argued by these most 
 sapient philosophers, that because the blow over the 
 eyes causes a flash of light, ergo, any thing can be seen 
 through the top or back of the head. So far, however, 
 from this being so, it can be explained only on the ra- 
 tional principle, that the eyes, being made for light, can 
 only convey their impressions to the brain, through gal- 
 vanic action, whether excited by the great luminary of 
 day, by the blow over the eyes, or the contact of the 
 metals, while the top of the head being made for other 
 purposes, can convey no such impressions. 
 
 Materialists and others, pulled up with arrogance and 
 pride, have laid hold of the science we teach and the 
 experiments we perform to disprove the divine mission 
 of the Saviour, and to explain away the miracles he 
 wrought to exemplify the teachings of his gospel. We 
 have often been asked to lecture on the subject, by 
 such; but whoever thinks the premises justify the in- 
 ference, is deeply, blindly and ignorantly, if not wil- 
 lingly deluded. Whoever thus thinks to equal him- 
 self to God, will find himself overwhelmed perhaps too 
 late, in his own nothingness, for (i vengeance belongs 
 to him," a who can create and who destroy," and he 
 will visit it sooner or later on those who disobey. The 
 
ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 1 09 
 
 difference between an Impression of Deity and that of 
 man is vastly great. Man was so constituted in the 
 beginning, it is true, as to be made the ruler over the 
 earth, yet subject to its influences. To become its in- 
 habitant, it was requisite that there should be certain 
 relations established between them. His physical or- 
 ganization was, therefore, made in harmony with the 
 primal forces by which it was made and moved and 
 still is governed. By a combination or aggregation of 
 particles, man was moulded by the plastic hand of 
 Deity. Each particle that entered into the mass, car- 
 ried with it that principle, that redeemed it from chaos, 
 and made it organic. When these particles were thus 
 aggregated and made into that shape, denominated man, 
 they were still obedient to the primitive forces in the 
 aggregate. Had Deity stopped here, that beautiful fa- 
 bric, by purely chemical laws, would soon have been 
 resolved into its pristine elements, as witnessed now in 
 the body, when the spirit has fled. Deity spiritualized 
 that organization and endowed it with a kind of self- 
 creative power, thus in a degree overcoming the re- 
 solving agencies by the mysterious process of secretion 
 and deposit of living matter. 
 
 All his impressions, therefore, whether from within 
 or without, must grow out of the relation already 
 alluded to. The eye was made for light, the ear for 
 sound, infinite as sound may be, in fact, the capacity 
 of every sense was predisposed for the perception of its 
 peculiar office, so that man cannot go beyond his na- 
 tural aptitude. He cannot create a new principle or 
 awaken a new motion, either in organized or unorgan- 
 ized matter. His mental organization is such, too, 
 
1 10 ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 
 
 that he becomes subject to the moral influence of spirit, 
 and though mind has an ascendency over, and takes 
 cognizance of the motions of matter, and matter be- 
 comes living organized existence under the influence of 
 spirit, yet cannot he make it assume new forms and 
 shapes and entities at his will, but is only allowed to 
 carry out the fiat of the " Great I Am," who, as was 
 stated in a former lecture, at the creation established 
 certain laws and certain agencies, to work out these 
 laws to the end of time. 
 
 Man must therefore obey the primal forces; while 
 God the author and originator of all motion, either in 
 materiality or immateriality, can at any time arrest 
 or modify existing laws or motions, and create others 
 anew whensoever it pleaseth his wisdom, his goodness 
 or his mercy to do so. 
 
 The birth of ourSaviour, is strictly in consonance with 
 the divine character, but not altogether with natural or 
 physical law s as established at the creation. It is itself 
 a miracle, the greatest, best and most sublime ever pre- 
 sented to the faith of man. In order to fulfil hisdivine 
 mission properly, it became necessary for Christ — the 
 personation of the mysterious connexion between mind 
 and matter, to appear in material form, and if in such 
 form, of course in obedience to the highest principle 
 governing organized existence. Man, therefore, was 
 that form, because he is more delicately and highly or- 
 ganized than any other animal. Christ, being co-eter- 
 nal with the Father — the cause of ail motion, was the 
 author of self-organization. Had he come into the 
 world, as the real son of Joseph, according to the exist- 
 ing laws of matter, he could never have established his 
 
ELECTRO BIOLOGY. 1 [ 1 
 
 divine character. He then would have been the result 
 of circumstances already determined, and hence no 
 more than any other man, just as an acorn falls into 
 the ground, springs up and becomes the majestic oak, 
 obedient to a combination of causes that preceded 
 its formation. His birth being of man according to 
 nature, he would only have been a man, but being 
 Deity, it became necessary to have an extraordinary 
 conception according to spirit. That he had power 
 over matter thus to create himself, as man, we are 
 forced to admit. His whole life is a volume of testimo- 
 ny. " I have power to lay down my life" says he, 
 w and I have power to take it up again," and he con- 
 firmed his words whenever it was required by such 
 acts as no mortal hand had done or could ever do. 
 
 This brief outline of the great Incarnation is here 
 given for the purpose of illustrating the difference be- 
 tween the miracles of Christ and the phenomena of 
 our experiments. We have been charged with advo- 
 cating principles we disavow and which do not grow 
 out of the premises. We are asked if the Saviour did 
 not work his miracles by the same power? If he did, 
 why did not his disciples do the same prior to his con- 
 ferring an especial power? Why cannot man raise the 
 dead and " make the lame to walk, the blind to see, 
 the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear," by the magic 
 words " Thy sins are forgiven thee," or " arise, take 
 up thy bed and walk." What, therefore, is the issue ? 
 Go back to the first principle, that man can know no- 
 thing of matter, except by his organization, or the har- 
 mony between the external and internal perception. 
 For example, the difference of color depends on the 
 
1 i 2 ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 amount of vibrations, the retina is stimulated to. If 
 the object be red, it is because of so many vibrations, if 
 blue or any other color, of so many. Here is percep- 
 tion from motion, and dependent upon the result for 
 certain amounts of that motion. Taste is another 
 sense, less delicate than sight, but capable of infinity 
 of variations, according to the kind or quality of sub- 
 stances applied to the tongue. Each sense subserves 
 its purpose, and man can administer to each, to a cer- 
 tain degree, to make things pleasant or unpleasant — 
 and each degree the result of a certain vibration. But 
 man cannot so change the nature of things, as to taste 
 with the eyes or see with the tongue, or smell with the 
 ears, because he has not the power to set up in a dif- 
 ferent organ the peculiarity of motion required to con- 
 vey the sensation to the brain and perception to the 
 mind. Suppose, therefore, we admit that Christ did 
 perform his miracles upon the principles of Biology, it 
 takes nothing from his divine power. Man, we have 
 seen, can modify motion, sensation and perception to a 
 certain degree, but thus far can he go, and no farther; 
 w r hereas, Deity being the author of motion has power 
 to change any sense at pleasure, to suspend motion 
 altogether, or give us the impression of color, through 
 the tongue as well as the eye. It is true that the oper- 
 ator can, by words, that is by assertion, when he has 
 a proper subject, take away, change and reverse for 
 the time being, any of the senses; he can give his sub- 
 ject water and make him think it wine, or brandy, and 
 even get drunk upon it; he can change sticks into 
 snakes, take away all feeling so that you might ampu- 
 tate a limb without pain, yet he cannot raise the dead 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 113 
 
 as Christ, did Lazarus, after putrefaction had taken 
 place, nor feed the multitude of live thousand, with 
 three loaves and two fishes, so that all were satisfied. 
 Here then was a power displayed not accorded to 
 man, by nature as established at the creation, but by 
 the hand of mercy, given to a chosen few, by Immanuei 
 himself, conferred upon his disciples. The incarnate 
 son of Joseph, was therefore more than man, in viiiue 
 of his heavenly origin. You may call the principle, 
 by which the miracles were wrought, the same by 
 which operators perform their wonders, if you please, 
 or rather an extension of that principle, yet the exer- 
 cise of it is a power, reserved alone to be used at the 
 discretion of Deity, for the vindication of his power, 
 wisdom and mercy. 
 
 But miracles are only relative. God works to him- 
 self no miracles absolutely; they are only so to us. A 
 miracle is something beyond the power of man, some- 
 thing out of the regular order of nature. The estab- 
 lishment of that very order of nature, the creation 
 
 every thing in exisience, is a miracle lo us: to God 
 nothing is. He can as easily arrest or modify the law 
 7iov), at his pleasure, as he could make it at the begin- 
 ning, when he said " let there be light and there was 
 light." The principle by which man displays his 
 power, was implanted in his bosom, when the divine 
 agency created Adam and breathed into him the 
 breath of life. He does by artificial means influence, 
 awaken and rouse it into action, but that action, neces- 
 sarily begins and ends in man; while that action or 
 miracle beginning in Deity, awakens motion, as in 
 
[ 1 4 ELECTRO - BIOLOGY. 
 
 chaos, and the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dead 
 are raised to life. 
 
 But how is this science to be made useful? To 
 the physician it is invaluable, not only as giving him 
 an insight into the modus operandi and effect of the 
 medicine he administers to the body, but. also that, 
 which is administered to the soul. How often has the 
 long and solemn visage, (he knowing look, the mysteri- 
 ous shake of the head, the doubtful expression, at 
 once sent a chill to the heart of the patient, and 
 thrown a saddening gloom over the attendants, which 
 in turn reacted and caused death, rather from the im- 
 pression of the individual and his friends that he 
 rhust die, than the actual violence of the disease. 
 How many cases have we not cited and how many 
 thousand more might we not give of deaths caused 
 by fear, despair, fright, and the impression that it was 
 inevitable, as was the case with the man under the 
 guillotine, when the wet towel was applied to his neck. 
 What a picture does the reverse present; of elevating 
 sentiments, of hope and joy and faith that ''removes 
 mountains," not to say disease. How often has not the 
 cheerful smile, the encouraging look, the hopeful 
 words of the attendant, inspired a confidence that over- 
 came disease and resulted in cure. To the messengers 
 of peace — the bearers of " glad tidings of great joy" 
 to erring mortality, and those " learned in the Law," 
 it is a source cf never failing success. To business 
 men in every department of life, the fascinating power 
 with which they impress their own ideas upon others, 
 is the grand secret of their prosperity. In the exposi- 
 tion of truth and the detection and exposure of Hum- 
 
ELECTRO-BIOLOGY. 115 
 
 buggery, it is the great lever m the hands of truth. It 
 points out the secret of sucoess of charmers and en- 
 chanters, of fire-blowers and blood-stoppers, (by words) 
 of Homcepaihists and Quack Doctors, of fanatics and 
 factionists, et id genus omne, and is the only effective 
 weapon with which the truly scientific can combat the 
 predilections of mankind for such pretenders. But per- 
 haps it is in the training and education of youth, where 
 its truths are of the most avail, and where its beneficial 
 influence can be most judiciously exercised. The 
 youthful btain is easily impressed, and by repetition, 
 impressions become lasting, either for good or for evil. 
 How important, therefore, that those having in charge 
 the rearing and education of youth, should well under- 
 stand the workings of the mind at that tender age, and 
 be careful to set a good example, both by words and 
 actions. It is by imitation that the child learns. 
 What he perceives by his senses, is impressed upon 
 his mind. What he sees and hears, he becomes 
 familiar with, and whether it be for good or for evil, 
 his habits in after life, will more or less be influenced 
 by it. So that it is, at this interesting period of life, 
 that the foundation of future greatness and utility or 
 obscurity and infamy, is most generally laid. 
 
 The manner in which children are corrected, when 
 they have done wrong, requires great consideration, for- 
 bearance and patience. Instead of continually impress- 
 ing upon them the ideathat they aregood for nothing, by 
 such expressions as M you naughty little rascal," " you 
 good for nothing fellow, you will never make a man," 
 " I'll beat you to death," mild and persuasive means 
 should be used to show their reasoning powers wherein 
 
1 1 6 ELECTRO- BIOLOGY. 
 
 ihe wrong consisted; and the way to avoid it in future, 
 pointed out. The evil passions should be soothed and 
 lulled to forge If ulness, by exercising the good. By 
 continually teliing a child he is good for nothing, he 
 at length becomes fully impressed that such is [he fact 9 
 and consequently every energy is paralized and every 
 hope extinguished. But cheer him up, and inspire 
 him with the confidence that he possesses within him- 
 self every requisite for greatness, and that although the 
 road may seem long and wearisome, yet he has to ad- 
 vance but one step at. a time, and there will be a ma- 
 gic change, wrought in the {i naughty little rascal," 
 no cudgel or cruel treatment could have brought about. 
 
 If our views of the doctrine of impressions be correct, 
 then l - like begets like," then anger, impatience, harsh- 
 ness and cruelty, must necessarily excite the same in 
 those to be corrected, and instead of reversing the evil 
 thoughts and impressions or curbing the unruly menial 
 emotions, the reverse is the consequence. 
 
 How forcible, therefore, and how important to be 
 carried out, does the scripture expression become 
 that "if you train up a child in the way he should 
 go, he will not depart from it, when he grows old.' 7 
 


 

 


 
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