experiences lasting more than a few minutes. In a note to the Academy of Sciences, I established that constancy and duration could be achieved when carbon surfaces were of sufficient size, solutions were properly prepared, and zincs perfectly amalgamated.

Some of your batteries were open-topped and others were in glass jars. How did they work?

My moist-cell battery worked in a glass vase with two flat disks: one zinc and one copper. Between these disks were blotting-paper washers. The lower washers were impregnated with a saturated solution of copper sulfate, while the upper washers contained a solution of zinc sulfate.

A copper rod insulated in ebonite plastic held everything in place. Wetting the disks put the element into action. Being very regular, this battery was especially advantageous for telegraphy and medical instruments. As you can imagine, constant and continuous current was critical during surgery, and my batteries achieved that.

One of the most practical, simple, and well known was the Trouvé-Callaud battery made of copper, zinc, and a copper sulfate solution. It was designed for medical uses. Constructed at a more reasonable cost than other batteries and generating about 1 volt, it also could be employed in alarms, telegraphs, and telephones.

Arthroscopes, laparoscopes, and ultrasound are today’s high-tech medical tools. Are such devices really new?

Mais non! I invented polyscopes (illuminated endoscopes) and photophores (medical headlamps) beginning in 1869. Polyscopes let physicians explore inaccessible parts of the human body, and photophores illuminated and reflected more easily accessible cavities. I was the first to light the cavities of the human body by means of platinum wire heated to an incandescent state by an electric current. This made diagnosis more accurate.

Although I developed both petrol- and electric-powered devices, the electric ones came into widespread use during surgery and in physiology laboratories and dentists’ and gynecologists’ offices. Societies and exhibitions around the world honored me with medals and diplomas.

I also created instruments for removing tumors and extracting projectiles, as well as for cauterizing. I do not wish to describe too graphically the instruments I customized to each organ. (For those interested, I suggest my illustrated Manuel d’Électrologie Médicale.)

For my batteries and medical instruments I made cabinets, portable cases, and even a tapestry cover that made a pedal-operated electro-cautery device look like an ottoman.

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