Acupuncture

Acupuncture (Lat., 'pricking with a needle') is a very ancient remedy, and one practised extensively in the East, for the cure of headaches, lethargies, &c. In Europe it is principally employed to relieve neuralgic pains, and those of chronic rheumatism. Steel needles are made use of, about three inches long, and set in handles. The surgeon, by a rotatory movement, passes one or more to the desired depth in the tissues, and leaves them there from a few minutes to an hour. Their insertion is accompanied by no pain, except the first prick—a fact the quacks of the 16th century did not fail to take advantage of. According to Jerome Cardan, they travelled from place to place practising acupuncture, and before inserting the needle, they rubbed it with a peculiar kind of magnet, either believing or pretending that this made the operation painless. The relief to pain afforded by this simple operation is sometimes astonishing, and the wounds are so minute as to be perfectly harmless. Needles protected except at their points by insulating material are sometimes used as conductors of the galvanic current to deep-seated parts. For the use of hollow needles in the administration of medicines, see HYPODERMIC INJECTION. See also NEURALGIA.