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John H. Dirckx, MD
The University of Dayton Gosiger Health Center Dayton, Ohio

JAMA. 1986;256(11):1444.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Dr Howell's¹ article on the early use of the x-ray machine and electrocardiograph at the Pennsylvania Hospital provides valuable data on the dawn of technology in American institutional medicine. Although Dr Howell chose to emphasize nontechnical aspects of the subject, a few historical notes on electrocardiography may add perspective to his remarks.

The electrocardiograph as manufactured in 1921 was an enormous machine weighing at least 350 kg and occupying 4 m² or more of floor space. Only standard limb leads (I, II, and III) were recorded. The usual practice was for the subject, seated, to immerse both arms and the left leg in jars of saline, which served as electrodes. These facts probably explain why, at the Pennsylvania Hospital, a separate room was set aside to house the first electrocardiograph.

Then, as now, the essential element in the electrocardiograph was a galvanometer, so arranged as . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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