Although either the positive or the negative pole, applied to the
healthy muscle, may produce spasmodic contraction, yet the negative pole
contracts much more powerfully than the positive--a fact which shows an
electrically _plus_ condition in the nerves and muscles involved. Yet we
know that cramps are more apt to attend a _low_ condition of general
vitality in the system than the opposite. From several considerations,
which can not be detailed here, I am led to think that cramps are
produced, generally, at least, by a temporary or spasmodic _reaction_ of
the electro-vital force from an improperly negative to an excessively
positive state in the parts affected.
My practice is, when the spasm is on, to treat the parts in cramp by
momentary touches rapidly repeated, with the P. P. of the B D or A D
current, good medium force, placing N. P. at the back of neck, if the
disturbance be in an arm; or at the coccyx, if it be in a leg or in the
abdomen or chest.
In treating parts subject to cramp while the spasm is _not_ on, give
them, along with other parts of the system, _general tonic treatment_,
as directed on page 95. This elevates and equalizes the electro-vital
action, and relieves the difficulty.