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Bioelectromagnetism

FIGURE 2.6 Elekiteru by Gennai Hiraga, replica (Courtesy of Postal Museum Japan, Tokyo.)

2.4 Development of Electric and Electromagnetic Stimulations

As a subdivision of bioelectromagnetism, this section introduces electric and electromagnetic

stimulations. Te historical overview focusing on the efect of electricity on plant growth is shortly

described. Next, very important historical developments of electric and electromagnetic stimulations

in basic research and early medical applications are presented as treatments of electrotherapy and

magnetotherapy.

2.4.1 Effect of Electricity on Plant Growth

In the middle of the eighteenth century, afer the development of the Leyden jar, the efect of electricity

on the growth of plants was examined in open spaces. Te earliest experiments on plant growth were

made by Maimbray, in Edinburgh, England, which were reported in 1746. Afer the electrifcation of

two myrtles with an electrostatic generator during the whole month of October, he found that they put

forth small branches of some inches in length that blossomed sooner than other shrubs of the same

kind without electrifcation. He attributed this efect to the infuence of electricity (Solly, 1845). Pierre