This
process is well known to prestidigitators, but it might be executed in
a genuine manner. In fact, on replacing the poignard by one of the
gold needles used by physicians for acupuncture, it would be possible
to dispense with prestidigitation. Under such conditions it is
possible to transpierce a person's arm. The pain is supportable, and
consists in the sensation of a prick produced in the passage of the
needle through the skin. As for the muscular flesh, that is of itself
perfectly insensible. The needle, upon the necessary antiseptic
precautions being taken, may traverse the veins and arteries with
impunity, provided that it is not allowed to remain long enough to
bring about the formation of a clot of coagulated blood (Fig. 4).
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--AN ARM TRANSPIERCED BY A NEEDLE.]
We think it of interest to add that it is necessary that the
experiment be performed by a practitioner if one desires to
demonstrate upon himself a very curious physiological fact that has
been known from the remotest antiquity. It has been employed for
several thousand years in Chinese medicine, for opening a passage for
the bad spirits that produce diseases. For some years past a much more
serious use has been made of it in European medicine for introducing
electric currents into the interior of the organism.
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