The efficacy of the "pain-luller" was discovered by an accident. A
little girl carrying a pet Nebo was knocked down, and the wheel of a
chariot passed over her legs. In a convulsive effort to save her pet,
the child pressed it to her bosom with so much force that she broke, the
bird's skin. When the people ran to her assistance, and lifted her up,
they found that both her legs were broken. To the surprise of all, she
did not cry, but only asked to be taken to her mother, and continued to
press the bird to her breast. From kindness, those near wished to take
away the bird, but the girl would not loose her hold.
The doctors were astonished; for the severity of the fractures would
ordinarily have caused acute pain, more particularly during the setting
of the bones. The child, however, though quite conscious of what was
passing, did not suffer in the least, but continued to pet her little
bird.
After many experiments, my scientific men found that this entire absence
of pain was due to the Nebo's electricity, which had escaped by the
breaking of its skin. This electricity, attracted by the nerves of
sensation, had entered the child's body when she pressed the pet
convulsively to her bosom, the seat of great sensibility. The
electricity only suspended the sense of feeling, but did not affect any
other part of the child's system.