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Alfred Charles Garratt (October 3, 1813 – June 30, 1891) was an American medical doctor who frequently used electricity as a medical tool. He was the first full-time medical doctor in
electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment. In medicine, the term ''electrotherapy'' can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological dise ...
in the United States and wrote the first book on the subject.
Biography
Garratt was born in
Brookhaven, New York
The Town of Brookhaven is the most populous of the ten towns of Suffolk County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located approximately 50 miles from Manhattan. It is the largest of the state of New York' ...
, on October 3, 1813. His father was Richard Garratt. He was a graduate of
Lenox Academy, and in 1836 a graduate of
Medical School, College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He was also a graduate of the
Berkshire Medical College
Berkshire Medical College (originally the Berkshire Medical Institution, and sometimes referred to as Berkshire Medical College) was a medical school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is notable for establishing the first professorship in mental d ...
.
Garratt was surgeon to the
United States Dragoons at
Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and United States Vice Consul at
Port-Au-Prince for two years. After the government position as Vice Consul he practiced medicine and kept an apothecary's shop in
Abington, Massachusetts
Abington is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, southeast of Boston. The population was 17,062 at the 2020 census.
History
Before the Europeans made their claim to the area, the local Native Americans referred to the area ...
. He was admitted to the
Massachusetts Medical Society
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization th ...
in 1849.
Garratt came to
Hanover, Massachusetts
Hanover is a historic town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,833 at the 2020 census.
History
The area of Hanover was first inhabited by the local Wampanoag and Massachusett people before Europeans had sett ...
, in 1851 and resided in the house left vacant by Dr. Fobes which was originally built by the Rev. Joab G. Cooper, rector of Saint Andrew's Parish. The house was built with wood from the old
Episcopal Church building at Church Hill when it was torn down to make way for the present church in Hanover.
Medical electrical invention
Garratt patented a
physiological "button" battery on July 6, 1869. The invention (no. 92,301) consisted
of several
button
A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.
In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...
size discs made from copper or silver and an alloy of dissimilar metals. The assembly of "button" battery discs was constructed into a flexible insulation base. The small batteries were wired together and a set metallic connections were made at each end of the assembly for the plus and minus electrical connections. The idea behind the flexible insulation base was so that it could be worn upon uneven body parts like arms and legs.
Family
Garratt's daughter Harriet was born in 1838. His son Charles was born in 1844. His second son, Joshua, was born in 1850 and his third son, Allen, was born in 1853.
[
] Garratt's first wife, Elizabeth, was born in 1817.
His second wife, Martha, was born about 1815.
By 1880 Garratt was widowed.
[
]
Later life
Garratt moved to Boston after practicing in Hanover for about twenty years. In Boston he had a medical office for many years in the rear of the renown
Tremont House. He became the first full-time medical doctor in
electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment. In medicine, the term ''electrotherapy'' can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological dise ...
in the United States.
Retirement and death
Garratt retired from practice in 1888. In 1891 he died at the age of seventy-eight years.
Works
*
Electro-Physiology and Electro-Therapeutics, showing the best methods for the medical uses of electricity'' The first book on electrotherapy was originally published in 1860 by
Ticknor and Fields
Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business would publish many 19th century American authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, ...
of
Boston, Massachusetts. It was republished by
Kessinger Publishing
Kessinger Publishing LLC is an American print-on-demand publishing company located in Whitefish, Montana, that specializes in rare, out-of-print books. According to Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publishing services at a bibliographic inform ...
in 2008.
*
Guide for Using Medical Batteries: Being A Compendium from His Larger Work on Medical Electricity and Nervous Diseases' published originally in Philadelphia in 1866 by
J. B. Lippincott & Co. It was republished by Kessinger Publishing in 2008.
[
]
*
Medical electricity; embracing electro-physiology and electricity as a therapeutic' published in Philadelphia in 1866 by J. B. Lippincott & Co.
*
Myths in Medicine and Old-time Doctors' published in New York and London in 1884 by G.P. Putnam's sons / The Knickerbocker Press.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garratt, Alfred Charles
1813 births
1891 deaths
People from Brookhaven, New York
Physicians from Massachusetts
19th-century American physicians
American medical researchers
Scientists from New York (state)