So after Mary Rafferty’s death, Dr. Bartholow sent the results of
his experiment off to be published and it quickly created a bit of
an uproar in the scientific community. Farrier had a few criticisms
of Bartholow and Farrier was the one who had been doing the studies
on animal models such as monkeys and dogs. He said that Bartholow
pushed the needles into the brain substance while he applied the
electrodes to the cortical surface. Because Bartholow’s needles
were so far into the brain, the electric current could diffuse
farther and activate parts of the brain that he was not trying to
study. Bartholow also pushed the needles deep enough to activate the
cerebral centers of the tactile nerves, which would explain why
Rafferty was in so much pain.
However, Farrier
concluded that Bartholow’s study was a complete parallel to his
own findings, and generally spoke of it favorably.
