This card shows that the uses of electricity can often be wonderful, for here we have it pressed into the service of man, or pressed into his ear, anyway.
This is thermo-cautery, or electro-cautery, which, in its most basic form, is simply a heated metal wire, which can both destroy unwanted and diseased tissue, and stop bleeding, depending on the pattern of waveforms used. And it is still very much used today, inside ears, as shown here, as well as down throats, into eyes, and underneath the skin, as well as in plastic surgery, especially on visible parts where any temporary colouring imparted by the thin wire will be less obvious than a scalpel. It also has one major advantage, for any current generated does not pass through the body of the patient, so it is safe for those with pacemakers and other internal machinery.
Now you may be thinking that this is a newly invented thing - but it is not. The electrification may be recent, or recent-ish, but the cautery was first written of by Hippocrates in 500 B.C., and, even more astonishingly, he recorded that it was used to destroy tissue lesions. We also have evidence that it was used in prehistoric times, by thin traces that have been spotted on early skulls and bones. As to what they used for the heating, it looks like it would have just been a fire, in a bowl or hearth, and the wires would have been stuck inside it until they glowed white, and were ready for use.
You may also be wondering how you could sustain the uses of electricity over eighty four cards. Actually this is a fascinating set, and quite easy to acquire as odds - though I had a lot of help from several collectors who sent in their lists, and, pleasingly, many of these were incomplete, so we all helped each other. It was more difficult to work out how to list them, but we have come up with using what is actually written on the card as the first part of the description (which is in French), and then typing in a translation, italicized, in square brackets.
Therefore the full list of this set, save two cards,(15 and 19) is :
- 1. La grenouille de Galvani [Galvani`s frog]
- 2. La bouteille de Leyde [the Leyden jar]
- 3. La Pile de Volta [the voltaic pile]
- 4. Machine Electrostatique - La grele artificielle [Electrostatic machine for making artificial hail]
- 5. Pile secondaire de Planté 1ere forme des accumulateurs [secondary battery of Gaston Plante]
- 6. Pile au bicarbonate pour petits éclairages [bicarbonate battery for small lights]
- 7. Pile Leclanché à vase poreux pour sonneries [Leclanche`s porous vessel battery]
- 8. Bobine de Ruhmkorff - Pistolet de Volta [Ruhmkorff`s coils - Volta`s pistol]
- 9. Tubes tournants de Geissler [Geissler tubes]
- 10. Batteries d'accumulateurs [Accumulator battery]
- 11. Groupe électrogène à vapeur[steam generator]
- 12. Batteries de dynamos actionnées par des turbines [Dynamo batteries powered by turbines]
- 13. Installation d'une ligne aérienne [installation of an overhead line]
- 14. Station centrale tableaux de distributions [Central electricity station distribution boards]
- 15. Tramway a Trolley [trolleybus]
- 16. Atelier Mobile pour les lignes de Tramways [mobile tramway line repairer]
- 17. Tramway a Plots [studded tramway]
- 18. Tramway à Caniveau [tramway with central gutter?]
- 19.
- 20. Locomotive Thomson Houston [Thomson Houston electric locomotive]
- 21. Landau Electrique [electric limousine]
- 22. Machine Magnéto-Electrique pour l`Allumage des Moteurs d`Autos [Magneto-Electric Machine for Ignition of Car Engines]
- 23. Pompe a incendie, mue par p`electricitie [Fire Engine powered by electricity]
- 24. Ascenseur Electrique [electric lift]
- 25. Monte-Charge Electrique [electric hoist]
- 26. Tour Electrique [electric lathe]
- 27. Perforatrice rotative électrique des Tunnels [electric tunneller for mines etc]
- 28. Perçage du verre [drilling holes in glass]
- 29. Perceuse de métaux portative et ajustable [Portable, adjustable, metal drill]
- 30. Treuil Electrique [electric winch]
- 31. Le Labourage Electrique [electric tractor]
- 32. Cabestan électrique des gares [electric station capstan]
- 33. Presse à Imprimer mûe électriquement [electric printing press]
- 34. La lampe a arc [arc light]
- 35. Fleurs lumineuses d'illuminations [lighted luminous flowers]
- 36. Fontaines lumineuses [illuminated fountains]
- 37. Lampe à vapeur de mercure [mercury vapour lamp]
- 38. Premiere Locomotive Electrique 1879 [first electric locomotive, 1879]
- 39. Signaux optiques militaires [military electric signalling lamp]
- 40. Projecteur de marine [electric marine searchlight]
- 41. Phare électrique a éclipse 1er ordre [lighthouse with flashing electric lamp]
- 42. Allume-cigare [electric cigarette lighter]
- 43. Eclairage Eectrique pour Danses Serpentines [stage lighting effects]
- 44. Cinematographe [film projector]
- 45. Four à diamants artificiels [Making artificial diamonds]
- 46. La cuisine electrique [electric cooker]
- 47. Radiateur Electrique [electric radiator]
- 48. Fer a Souder Electrique [electric soldering iron]
- 49. Appareil à fondre la cire sans danger d` incendie [fire-proof wax melter]
- 50. Balayeuse Electrique [electric street sweeper]
- 51. Application des rayons X à la douane [X-rays at customs]
- 52. Lampe pour la laryngoscopie [lamp for laryngoscopy]
- 53.Tannage des Cuirs à l'Electricité [Electric tanning of leather]
- 54. Thermo-cautere electrique [Electro-cautery]
- 55. Appareil pour transmettre les images à distance [distance transmitter for images]
- 56. Laboratoire de Mesures et Recherches [research and development laboratory]
- 57. Thermomètre avertisseur de minima [minimun temperature thermometer]
- 58. Reveille-Matin Electrique [electric alarm clock]
- 59. Electrocution [The electric chair]
- 60. Brosse à parquets, mue par l`electricitie [Electric floor brush]
- 61. Galvano à la pile [Galvano`s battery]
- 62. Galvano à la Cuve [Galvano at his tank]
- 63. Electrolyseur pour le Blanchiment des Toiles et Papiers [Electrolyser for Bleaching Fabrics,and papers]
- 64. Riveuse électrique mobile [Mobile electric riveter]
- 65. Telegraphie Morse [Morse telegraph]
- 66. Telegraphe Breguet [Breguet`s telegraph]
- 67. Télégraphie sans fil [wireless telegraph]
- 68. Telephone bureau centrale [switchboard]
- 69. Telephone sans fil système maiche 1906 [cordless telephone from 1906]
- 70. Torpilles electrique [electric torpedoes]
- 71. Tirages des Coups de Mines à distance [remote mine blasting]
- 72. Chasse-Neige mû par l'Electricité [Electric snowplough]
- 73. Appareils moteurs des sous-marins [submarine engines]
- 74. Triage des minerais par l`électro-aimant [Ore sorting by electromagnet]
- 75. Pile thermo-électrique de Melloni [Melloni`s thermo-electric battery]
- 76. Ventilateur de mines [mine ventilation]
- 77. Télégraphe Imprimant de Baudot [Baudot's Telegraph Printer]
- 78. Haut-fourneau electrique [Electric blast furnace]
- 79. Tracteur électrique des mines [electric mining tractor]
- 80. Meule électrique mobile [mobile electric grinder]
- 81. Escalier Mobile Electrique [escalator]
- 82. Pont roulant électrique [electric overhead crane]
- 83. Appareil portatif d'électrothérapie [portable electrotherapy machine]
- 84. Enlevage des rails par l`électro-aimant [lifting rails by electromagnet]
Now the card which helps us most to date this is card 69, which gives a date of 1906.