Primary sourceDocument1882

Upon the Electrical Experiments to Determine the Location of the Bullet in the Body of the Late President Garfield

Alexander Graham Bell · 1882

Bell's 1882 scientific paper describing his induction-balance device, built to try to find the bullet lodged in President Garfield.

Bell wrote this paper himself, describing his own invention and its use to try to help the dying President Garfield.

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Front cover of a dark, cloth-bound book with black leather corners and spine. A small paper library label on the lower left spine reads E 684 B43 Copy 2. The cover shows no visible title. — Subjects: Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Electrodiagnosis

About this source

What it is

This is a printed scientific paper written by Alexander Graham Bell in 1882. It describes an induction-balance device he built to try to locate a bullet inside the body of President James Garfield, who had been shot. The text includes diagrams of the apparatus, including the wooden case holding coils used in the experiments.

Why it matters

The paper shows Bell turning his skills as an inventor toward a national emergency. It reveals how scientists of the time tried to use new electrical technology to solve medical problems, at a moment when the whole country was anxiously following Garfield's condition. It also shows the limits of early technology, since the device's success was uncertain.

Look closer

Why might Bell have felt a sense of urgency in writing this account?
What do the diagrams tell you about how the device was supposed to work?
What does this attempt reveal about the hopes people placed in new science to solve old problems?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Alexander Graham on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.