For the range of chloride ion concentration found 
in solutions that are in physiological equilibrium, the silver 
chloride electrode is much more reproducible than the earlier 
much-used zinc electrode and can be used in the same solution 
that makes electrical contact with the living system, thereby 
avoiding liquid junction potentials. Silver chloride electrodes have 
been used by physical chemists in many exact electromotive 
force determinations and have been found to be stable and repro­
ducible to within ten microvolts or better, when directly com­
pared in the same solution. The original electrodes were designated as Type Two by 
Harned and consisted of silver obtained by heating silver oxide, 
supported on a platinum wire, and silver chloride formed by 
subsequent electrolysis in a hydrochloric acid solution. These 
were complicated to make, cumbersome and difficult to apply 
practically in the field. Moreover, the original requirem ent that 
we should be able to measure voltage gradients down to a sensi­
tivity of roughly ten microvolts, proved to be unimportant. In 
the beginning, however-since it was not clear from the liter­
ature just what magnitudes of the standing potential in living 
systems might be expected-it was necessary to aim at maximum 
sensitivity. Subsequently, however, many hundreds of thou­
sands of determinations have made it abundant ly clear that in 
most living systems, except perhaps the very small unicellular 
systems, the voltages developed are of the order of millivolts. The current technique used to make electrodes to bridge the 
gap between protoplasm and amplifier was devised with the aid 
of a physical chemist, Dr. Leslie E. Nims, formerly of Yale and 
now of Brookhaven. Fine silver wire or rod of any suitable dimen­
sion is either chlorided by electrolysis in He} or KCI solution or, 
following the recommendation of Shedlowsky, is dipped into 
molten silver chloride which can be obtained at most manufactur­
ing chemists. Usually, it is necessary to make many electrodes 
and to pair them up so that between any two electrodes there is a 
minimum of self-potential. 40 THE CO URSE AND THE COM PASS 
In the early experiments the electrodes were placed in a physio­
logical salt solution in reasonable ionic balance with the salt 
content of living systems and connected the living protoplasm to 
the electrode chamber by a salt bridge. For precision work, this is 
probably the method of choice, but since the magnitudes are in 
the order of millivolts, the whole procedure can be simplified very 
considerably by using an inert salt paste. For this purpose, the Parke-Davis 'Unibase', developed as a 
foundation for most of the skin creams, can be utilized if, to it, 
is added sodium chloride. The concentration of sodium chloride in 
the 'Unibase' paste does not seem to be greatly important for 
ionic balance between the paste and the protoplasm can be 
reached in a reasonable time. As a matter of interest, electrodes 
imbedded in a 'Unibase' salt paste and placed in chambers in con­
tact with the cambium of trees have been used for more than 
two decades, with considerable success. Most of these electrode 
placements will remain adequate over long periods of time--­
weeks and months-but they can be replaced so readily that it 
is not difficult to continue long-time studies using this technique. Since the type of measurement being made sets the conditions for 
the type and dimensions of the electrodes, and since the areas to 
be measured in a living system are limited only by the surface 
area of the organism, specific directions for making electrodes and 
electrode chambers can be omitted. With properly designed electrodes, measurements can be made 
all over the surface of any living organism from slime mould, 
through experimental animals, to and including man, with more 
than adequate reproducibility. The ingenuity of the investiga tor 
is the only limit on either the type of electrode to be used or the 
placement of the electrode. In general, the electrode that is con­
nected to the ground lead of the amplifier is usually put some­
where on the Hving system at some distance from the area which 
is being under investigation. The so-called 'hot' electrode, then, is 
placed as dose as common-sense dictates to the area under in­
Vestigation. What is recorded, therefore, is not specifically a value 
or a magnitude that is in itself important, but the relationship 
between any two values measured by the instrument. This makes 
41 THE COUR S E AND THE COMPAS S 
it clear that we are dealing with relatednesses, rather than abso­
lute magnitude. It has been known since the time of Willard Gibbs that it is 
impossible to assign a given magnitude to a potential of any 
part of the material included between the two electrodes, or to 
any phase boundary involved between the two electrodes. One 
can only say as mentioned above, that we are dealing primarily 
with a difference, a relatedness between the two points under 
consideration reached by the two electrodes. Most specific phase 
boundaries can be identified as the source of the voltage gradient. There are innumerable such phase boundaries in any living 
system, each of which is an adequate source of a voltage gradient. All that we can record is the difference between the potential at 
one point and that of another point in the living system. Since we are dealing with relatednesses, the whole point of 
the technique described here is the change in this relatedness with 
time. Moreover, since all living systems are individually unique, 
differing from all other organisms of the same type, each indi­
vidual system being measured has to serve as its own control. This 
points again to the importance of change in the relatedness with 
the passage of time. This does not hold that the potential differ­
ences observed are without significance but simply that we are 
unable with our present techniques to assign a value to a poten­
tial difference at any point. Needless to say, one of the standard questions raised by all 
this procedure is the source of the potential differences which 
establish the field in the living system. It is perfectly clear from 
all that we know about physical chemistry of solutions, even the 
complex ones of living systems, that the measured electro-motive 
force is derivable from inherent phase boundaries* to be found 
whenever two or more states of matter exist side by side. It must be emphasized, however, that the methods of measure­
ment used in our laboratories over the past thirty years, 
must be followed rigidly and explicitly. After all, one is balanc­
ing electron flow in one vacuum tube against an electron flow in 
another, in a bridge arrangement. This means that one is dealing 
* The term 'phase boundary' designat es the line of contact between 
two dissimilar material substances. 42 THE COURSE AND THE COM PASS 
with measuring devices akin to balancing a mercury drop on the 
point of a needle. In our laboratory, this technique has worked, 
but it has been clear that unless it is followed certainly and care­
fully, variations will be found which are inexplicable and which 
upset the validity of the measurements. 6 
With our 'navigational instruments'-a high impedance am­
plifier and silver-silver chloride electrodes working through salt 
bridge in contact with living systems-we have been able to de­
velop a technique which gives reliable results. With this it soon 
became clear that every living system possesses an electrical field 
of great complexi ty. This can be measured with considerable cer­
tainty and accuracy and shown to have correlations with growth 
and development, degeneration and regeneration, and the orienta­
tion of component parts in the whole system. Perhaps more inter­
esting that anyone thing, this field exhibits remarkable stability 
through the growth and developm ent of an egg. It was a basic requirement of this field theory that it be 
assumed to he a primary characteristic of Nature, in general, and 
of living systems, in particular. It possesses many, if not all, of 
the properties necessary to control movement and position of all 
charged particles within this system. It has those necessary 
vector or directional properties which are of vital necessity for 
any understanding of how growth and developm ent can occur 
under careful, rigid control. The electrical phenomena associated with the field must be 
considered to be a primary attribute of Nature, a cause of the 
arrangement of all the component parts in Nature, not only 
living but also non-living systems. In other words, the working 
hypothesis of the studies to be reported here is that the Field is 
basic with the necessary power and directional properties to de­
termine the processes inherent in the growth and developmen t of 
any living system. The field is primary and from it stem all the myriads of con-
43 THE COURS E AND THE COMPAS S 
sequences which are to be seen in Nature. The specific data which 
so strongly support this assumption, at least insofar as our present 
knowledge goes, will be presented in detail in the following pages. 44 CH AP TER THREE 
The Female Field 
1 
We were ready to set sail. We had developed the navigational 
instruments and techniques to guide us over uncharted seas to­
wards a hypothetical goal. But these seas we hoped to explore-the electro-dyn amic fields 
of life-would not yield their secrets if we disturbed them by our 
passage. So we had to use not a vessel that ploughed through their 
surface but rather a hovercraft that does not disturb the terrain 
over which it passes. In other words, our instruments and tech­
niques were designed to measure and map the electro-dyn amic 
fields with the minimum disturbance of their electrical poten­
tials. With our instruments we could measure the voltage gradients 
of living systems which are quite independent of changing 
current and resistance. It must again be emphasized that our 
measurements are as near as possible pure voltage measurements. To be sure this probably can never be done with absolute 
accuracy. But, for all practical purposes, in our measurements the 
current drain from the system being measured is reduced to the 
minimum. Hence we do not disturb the living system while the 
mCJsurement s are being made. All the necessary energy to keep 
the instrument in operation or, if you like, our hovercraft hover­
ing, is derived from external sources, not from the system being 
measured. This is imperative. The beginning of our voyage is in a land-locked harbour where 
there is a certain amount of information about the harbour and 
its surrounding terrain. We know that living systems have elec­
trical properties. Examples are the electro-ca rdiogram, the electro­
encephalogram, the action current potential of nervous impulse, 
45 THE FEMALE FIELD 
electrical changes which are associated with muscle contraction 
and, in all probability, the changes which occur during the 
activity of glandular secretions. These are all well-recognized phenomena, but so far there has 
been no general principle which would explain their existence. It has usually been assumed that all these changes in the electri­
cal properties of a living system are the consequence of biological 
activity. But it is our hunch that a primary electrical field in the 
living system is responsible. The reason for this should be clear. When we pick up heart waves and brain waves from living 
systems the pick-up electrodes are never, or very rarely, in 
direct contact with the system under measurement. This means 
there must be some forces in operation which transmit the 
activity of muscle, or nerve, from the organ itself through the 
tissues of the body to the electrode wherever it may be. One arm 
and one leg, in the case of the cardiogram, or on the scalp in the 
case of the Berger rhythms, or brain waves. It is generally accepted that the changes in the electro-cardio­
gram, for example, which can be recorded from one arm and one 
leg, are the result of some kind of transport, possibly of charged 
ions. But the fact is clear to anyone who has examined these in 
detail that the speed of the transmission is far too rapid to be 
explained by the movement of a charged particle from cardiac 
muscle to the far-distant leg. The assumption of a field, however, 
gives an adequate foundation for the recording at the periphery 
and at some distance, of the phenomena associated with a basic 
biological property. With our craft hovering above the surface of the sea, and 
thereby causing no wash or ripple in the sea itself, we leave the 
harbour towards the distant buoy. This buoy is an unknown 
differentiation on the surface of the sea. When we find it we must 
tackle the question that this discovery poses: Is it really true 
that all biological systems exhibit a significant set of electrical 
properties? The first thing to be done, therefore, is to try to determine by 
measuring of a variety of systems whether there are always 
electro-metric properties in a living organism. So, over the last 
thirty years, almost every form of living organism has been 
46 THE FEMALE FIELD 
studied, some of them quite cursorily and others in more detail, 
from bacteria up to and including man. And so far as our present 
information goes, there is unequivocal evidence that wherever 
there is life, there are electrical properties. But again, it must be stressed that these electrical properties, 
measured under the conditions of this trip, are voltage gradients, 
not current movement, not changes in resistance to the passage of 
current. These electrical voltage gradients in the living systems are the 
logical consequences of the Electro-dy namic Theory and only to 
be expected. But we must go beyond theory: its logical con­
sequences must be put to experimental tests to develop what 
Northrop has called epistemic correIa tions or what Margenau 
has called the correspondencies between the logical conclusions 
from the Theory and the findings in an experimental laboratory 
where adequate controls can be instituted. 2 
If there are electrical gradients-voltage gradients-in living 
systems, what are their essential characteristics? They must have 
magnitude and, since they are electrical, they must have direc­
tional properties; in other words, polar properties, a positive and 
a negative aspect. To learn more about these gradients one of the first things 
undertaken in the laboratory was-naturally enough-to 
measure human beings. At first sight, this could be an exceed­
ingly complicated problem, but with the advice of Professor 
Leslie Nims, a very simple approach was adopted. With our silver-silver chloride electrodes in a common physio­
logical salt solution, the known self-potential in the electrode 
was reduced by selection to a minimum, usually not greater than 
one-half a millivolt. Then with two cups available, one electrode 
Was introduced into the salt solution of one cup and another 
electrode into the salt solution of a second cup. It was a simple 
matter, then, to dip the finger of the hands into these cups; the 
index finger of the left hand into the left-hand cup, and the index 
47 THE FEMALE FIELD 
finger of the right hand into the right-hand cup. This com­
pleted the external circuit in the measuring device. Immediately it was clear that there was a voltage gradient 
between the left �nger and the right �nger. This could be checked 
readily, for all that was necessary was to move the right-hand 
finger into the left-hand cup and vice versa. If the readings were 
valid, the magnitude should be the same in the second series 
of measurements as in the first. Normally, with our experiments 
these measurements were repeated ten times, or until we had 
reproducible, reliable results. As soon as it was found that such measurements could be made 
readily, the question arose whether there was any significant 
difference between human beings and those measurements. As a 
result a great many measurements were carried out in the 
laboratory, using the personnel of the laboratory as subjects. We 
found to our delight that the magnitudes of the potentials were 
rarely less than two millivolts and often many times higher. The spread-or magnitud e-of the measurements was so great 
that it was found possible to divide human beings into four 
categories. Individuals with low voltage gradients between the 
right and left forefinger; at the other extreme, individuals with 
voltage gradients between the right and left forefinger of some­
thing in the order of ten millivolts. In between, there was a third 
group, a low-high group, around five or six millivolts, and a 
fourth high-low group around two to four millivolts. Interestingly enough, these were quite consistent during the 
period of measurement but, what is more remarkable, they were 
quite consistent with the passage of time. These experi ments were 
carried out over many days to be sure that the results were re­
liable. If the electrical gradients in the living system were the 
result of the chemistry of the organism, the constancy which we 
recorded would simply not be possible. We could not see any significant relationships between the 
individuals with low potential gradients and those with high 
potential gradients by any techniques which we were able to 
devise. The subjects were all males, and it was suggested that 
there might be an electrical difference between males and females. Hence, measurements were made on female members of the labor-
48 THE FEMALE FIELD 
atory group, day after day, week after week, and month after 
month. We found to our astonishment that during the course of a 
month's measurements the female voltage gradients showed re­
markable increases, a sharp rise, for a period of twenty-four 
hours. This occurred on many occasions and gave us reason to 
wonder as to the possible origin of this phenomenon. Examina­
tion of the personal records of the females involved made it clear 
that these rises in voltage gradient occurred during the approxi­
mate middle of the menstrual cycle. Needless to say, this sug­
gested at once that the rise might be associated with ovulation, 
since the endocrinologists have been telling us for years that 
ovulation occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle and is, in 
all probability, the cause of the onset of the menses. 3 
This was an exciting event, for now we could see beyond the 
first buoy a second buoy in the distance: a change in voltage 
gradient associated with fundamental biological activity. Atten­
tion must be called, however, to the fact that the change was 
one of magnitude, not of the polarity of the measurements. Since not all mammals have the same history, it was necessary 
to seek an animal in which the time of ovulation could be pre­
dicted. Fortunately, the rabbit is such an animal. Proper stimula­
tion of the cervix in the female rabbit results, under normal 
conditions, in the appearance of ovulation some nine hours after 
stimulus. The following experiment, therefore, was set up: A rabbit was 
stimulated, and nine hours later anaesthetized. Its abdomen was 
then opened and a salt-filled chamber was placed around the 
ovary. The cold electrode was attached to the anima l's body, and 
the 'hot' electrode, connected to the grid of the first tube, was 
placed in the salt-filled chamber not too far away from the ovary 
itself. Then, with a microscope, the surface of the ovary was itseH 
continuously examined while the changes in voltage gradient 
between the two electrodes were recorded on the recording gal-
49 THE FEMALE FIELD 
vanometer. It was thus possible to see the event of ovulation 
through the microscope and, simultaneously, the recorded 
changes in voltage gradient on the recorder. To our delight the moment of rupture of the follicle and the 
release of the egg was accompanied by a sharp change in the 
voltage gradient on the electrical recorder. This experiment was 
carried out enough times until it was perfectly clear that there 
could be little or no question that the electrical change was 
associated with the event of ovulation. If, in an experimental animal, electrical changes were seen to 
coincide with ovulation, then it might be possible to assume that 
the observed voltage-gradients in women might serve to time ovu­
lation in human beings. This is a very important problem, for the 
exact time when eggs are released from the human ovary has not 
been really determined. As these voltage gradients occur during 
the middle of a menstrual cycle then, if the Knaus theory is 
correct, ovulation occurs in the middle of the cycle, and therefore 
the electrical changes in the human female should indicate the 
time of ovulation in that particular individual. This is not an easy experiment to perform on humans but, 
through a fortunate set of circumst ances, it was possible for us to 
do a study on one girl. It was necessary for her to have an elective 
laparotomy and she was willing to corne into the hospital and 
have the operation performed at a time when our electrical 
records indicated that it was the right time to do it. She was in 
the hospital for fifty-six hours before the operation and during 
that time was continuously measured by the recording galvan­
ometer. There were times, of course, when short gaps occurred in 
the record for a variety of physiological reasons, but the fact 
remains that there was a rather astonishing consistency in 
the electric measurements. The measurements were made between the central abdominal 
wall, as a reference electrode, and the wall of the vagina in the 
vicinity of the cervix, as the active electrode. When the electrical 
records showed this marked change in voltage gradient in the 
patient, she was moved to the operating room and, under the skill­
ful hands of Dr. Luther Musselman, a laparotomy was perform ed, 
50 THE FEMALE FIEL D 
an ovary uncovered, and a recently ruptured follicle noted. This, 
obviously confirmed the findings in the rabbit. 4 
At this point occurred one of the most interesting events of 
this adventure in science: 
Dr. John Rock, of Brookline, Massachusetts, head of a gynae­
cological hospital, evinced interest in the techniques and under­
took to develop the procedures in his hospital. We gave him all 
the advice and help that we could, and eventually he set up a 
number of measurements at that hospital. He reported in a paper 
some ten or more instances of ovulation occurring in the middle 
of the menstrual cycle as indicated by electrical measurements. He completed these experiments, or at least the first of them, how­
ever, before we had been able to find a suitable patient for our 
work in New Haven. Like the gentleman he is, he withheld publi­
cation of his findings until after we were able to publish ours. Subsequently, he continued these experiments and confirmed our 
original findings. An accident occurred, however, when a house officer inad­
vertently made some measurement s on a female patient not in 
the middle of the menst rual cycle. He found to his dismay-and 
that of the rest of the observers- that these electro-metric 
changes did not always come in the middle of the cycle. It will be recalled that the Knaus theory holds that ovulation 
occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle. This theory was 
based on statistical measure of pregnancies following returning 
soldiers during the first World War; and there is probably little 
question that the statistics are valid so far as groups are con­
cerned. Unfortunately, that does not demonstrate beyond per­
adventure that in every individual ovulation must necessarily 
occur in the middle of the menstrual cycle. Dr. Rock felt, how­
ever, that the statistical evidence was valid; and therefore any 
changes in electro-metrics of the living patient, not in the middle 
of the cycle, could not be related to ovulation. This terminated 
51 THE FEMALE FIELD 
Dr. Rock's experiment, much to our dismay, but we persisted, 
nevertheless, in our study. With the help of Dr. Dorothy Barton, an extended study 
was Illade of a group of women in the New Haven Hospital, 
most of whom were nurses living a fairly rigorous existence, with 
more regularity than most of us undergo. These women included 
subjects of all ages. Some of them were post-menopausal. One of the interesting consequences of this study was the fact 
that about thirty per cent of the women seemed to ovulate in the 
middle of the cycle, granting the validity of the electro-metric 
technique. But in all probabili ty-accor ding to electrical measure­
ments-twa-thirds of the women ovulated over the entire men­
strual cycle, even during the menses. This was at variance with 
the endocrinological theory of ovulation and was difficult for 
many people to accept. Women over the menstrual period and in the non-fertile 
period and those in the so-called menopause, showed no such 
electro-metric changes with the passage of time. This was true 
whether the menopause was the natural one or one resulting 
from surgery of the generative tract. For a number of years measurements were made on patients, 
sent in by surrounding doctors, to time ovulation in their par­
ticular instances. One of the patients sent to us was one who had 
been married for a number of years without issue. The question 
was raised, of course, as to the reason for the infertility. Though 
all the known techniques of that time were employed no signifi­
cant fact was uncovered to explain why there was no fertile result. The patient was taught to make the measurements herself and 
did them religiously once a day, day-after-day, for many months. At no time was there any evidence of voltage variations. Subse­
quently, when a laparotomy was required, it was found that the 
patient had atrophied ovaries, apparently caused by their early 
involvement in tuberculosis. At no time had she ovulated and 
there were no electro-metric changes. This raises the question of the necessarily causal relationship 
between ovulation and the onset of menst ruation. In the group 
of patients studied, moreover, while the great majority showed 
fairly regular menstrual periods of the average length, there were 
52 THE FEMALE FIELD 
a number whose menstrual histories were very irregular. One 
patient in particular exhibited menstruation only three times in 
a year, and yet during that year there were three instances where 
there was a marked electro-metric change unrelated to the onset of 
menstruation itself and suggested that ovulation had occurred. The evidence is clear. Like brain waves and heart waves, electro­
metric changes occur during ovulation and can be recorded in 
the living subject. Furthermore, the results show that ovulation 
may take place at any time in the menstrual cycle, although in 
the majority of women studied the ovulation record showed the 
usual mid-cycle peak. It is equally clear that there is no necessary 
relationship between ovulation and menstruation, for either may 
exist without the other; ovulation may occur without menstrua­
tion and menses without ovulation. 5 
Published reports of our experiments with women were read 
by the distinguished obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr. Louis 
Langman, of New York University and Bellevue HospitaL As a 
result, he carne to the writer's laboratory and discussed the ques­
tion of whether or not the electro-metric timing of ovulation 
could be used in connection with artificial insemina tion. More­
over, because the reports indicated that electro-metric records 
suggested relationship between the developing ovaries and its 
follicle, he further questioned whether or not they might not be 
used to detect cancer. The result was a rewarding and very fruit­
ful association over a number of years. Starting with the assumption that the electro-metric peaks 
occurring during the menstrual cycle of normal women indicated 
ovulation, Dr. Langman decided to use the technique as a means 
of determining when best to employ artificial insemination. As 
a result, he was equipped with the necessary technical apparatus, 
including the electrode, the high input impedance amplifier and 
the G. E. photoelectric recorder. Since Dr. Langman had had indifferent success in a series of 
ten cases, using other timing procedures, artificial insemination 
53 THE FE MALE FIELD 
was attempted in those instances when the electro-metric shift 
indicated that ovulation had recently occurred. To his and our 
delight, the average of successes was considera bly higher using 
the electro-metric technique than that employed by other 
methods of timing ovulation. It seemed clear, however, that Dr. Langman's main interest 
was not only in the timing of ovulation, but also in the problem 
of malignancy in the generative tract in women. Fortunately, through a grant, and with the cooperation of the 
Bellevue Hospital Gynaecological Service, more than a hundred 
patients were examined electro-metrically. The records were 
kept carefully and a marked voltage gradient between cervix of 
the uterus and a reference electrode on the ventral abdominal 
wall often appeared on the recording galvanometer . After a sufficient number of tests had been run to make sure 
we were dealing with a valid finding, Dr. Langman and his 
assistant examined something in the neighbourhood of one 
thousand patients. These patients were on the wards of the 
hospital and were subject to a variety of syndromes. They in­
cluded fibromas, as well as the usual run of pathological events 
in the generative tract of these women. In those that showed a 
marked change in the voltage gradient between the cervix and 
the ventral abdominal wall, careful watch was kept through sub­
sequent laparotomy. There were a hundred and two cases where there was a sig­
nificant shift in the voltage gradient, suggesting malignancy. Surgical con�rmation was found in ninety-�ve of the hundred 
and two cases. The actual position of the malignancy varied all the way from 
the fundus, to the tubes and to the ovarian tissue itself. It is 
interesting to note that the electro-metric evidence of sharp volt­
age change occurred in malignancies found not only in the im­
mediate vicinity of the cervix but also through all the rest of 
the generative tract, including the ovary itself. Thus we had an 
astonishingly high percentage of successful identification of 
r:J.alignancy in the generative tract, confirmed by biopsy. The fact tha t malignancy in the ovarian tissue was recognized 
electro -metrically, and confirmed by biopsy-even though the 
54 THE FEMALE FIELD 
malignant tissue was several centimet res distant from the active 
electrode in contact with the cervix-is in line with the dista nt 
readings of the EKe and EEe. The order of magnitude of these 
changes in voltage gradient was such that the possibility of 
changing pH of the generative tract could be ruled out. Surprisingly enough, these findings were never picked up in 
the literature and have not been extended further or repeated 
under other conditions. This probably is because it is difficult for 
people to recognize that these changes represent changes in the 
�eld of the system; and, therefore-as in the case of the EKe and 
the EEe-the active electrode need not be in direct contact with 
the tissue which is showing the greatest changes in voltage 
gradient. It took over thirty years before the EKe was perfected to the 
point where it could become a useful adjunct in the clinician's 
office. By that time the empirical results were so clear-cut that 
the value of the electro-cardiogram could not be questioned. The 
explanation of EKe, however, has never been really unravelled 
satisfactorily. The fact that the electrodes do not have to be in 
contact with the heart, that the change is exceedingly rapid and 
cannot be explained by electro-phoresis or any of the other simple 
answers to the transmission of changes of voltage gradient, was 
finally ignored because of the value of the empirical results. Similarly, in the case of the electrical ovulation changes and 
the malignancy changes in the generative tract of women, it is 
not necessary for the electrode to be in direct contact with the 
tissue showing the great change. But the voltage-change is trans­
mitted over a distance promptly and in such a form that at 
present the only successful explanation is that the electro­
metric characters of tissue, in general, and of the generative 
tract, in particular, are transmitted by the primary electro­
dynamic field. 6 
The results reported above suggested that the relationship be­
tween ovulation and menstruation was not on quite such a firm 
55 THE FE MALE FIELD 
foundation as had been generally assumed. There can be no ques­
tion that the chemistry of the endocrines is an important factor 
in these activities of the generative tract. Primarily, however, 
the chemistry provides the energy necessary for these activities, 
and it has been almost entirely overlooked that the chemistry 
involved in any physiological process must, necessarily, have 
direction. The source of this direction can be assumed safely to be the 
result of the activity of the nervous system and there is plenty 
of evidence in the literature to suggest that in the hypothalamic 
region of the brain there are nuclear masses whic h are concerned 
primarily with the onset of ovulation, its completion and, also, 
that another set of neural mechanisms has equal control over the 
menstrual cycle. While experiments on ovulation in humans were going on, 
parallel studies were carried out on experimental animals. With 
the co-operation of the distinguished gynaecologist, Dr. Luther 
Musselman, also Dr. Dorothy Barton, Dr. John Boling, and Dr. 
Vincent Gott, and numerous patient and cooperative subjects, 
studies were carried out on rats, in particular, on rabbits, cats, 
and so on. Various stages in the oestrous cycle in animals were 
found to have electro-metric correlates which are valuable indi­
cators of the kind of physiological processes which are going on 
during menstruation, and during the whole cycle of oestrous 
phenomena. In addition to the original findings on the rabbit, 
Dr. Gott, in particular, extended them to the ovulation phenom­
ena in monkeys. As a result of the very generous cooperation of Dr. Gertrude 
Van Wagenen. it was possible for Dr. Gott to study the ovulation 
problem in a group of Rhesus females. Five animals, for a total of 
twelve menstrual cycles, were studied. It was found that in ten 
out of twelve cycles there was a significant and consistent peak 
of negative voltage that was higher than any other peak in the 
cycle and. because of its distinctive pattern, may be distinguished 
from any other peaks in the cycle. This distinctive peak occurred 
in every cycle between the eleventh and fourteenth day, and this 
is the period in which most of the ovulations are known to occur. It is believed that this distinctive and reproducible peak is the 
56 THE FEMALE FIELD 
electrical concomitant of ovulation. Possibly the two cycles without a significant peak, between 
the eleventh and fourteenth days, are anovulatory cycles which 
are fairly common in the monkey. Bi-weekly or weekly records 
of the abdominal vaginal potential difference were made in two 
monkeys from the date of conception until delivery six months 
later. In other animals, records were taken from the second 
month of pregnancy to the date of delivery. The records tend to level out somewhat as pregnancy pro­
ceeds, so that by the third month the graph is almost a horizontal 
line. The cervix remains negative after the second week of preg­
nancy until the beginning of the third month, except for rare 
instances when it becomes positive. By the third month, the 
voltage has dropped to near the zero line where it hovers until 
delivery. Despite these characteristics which differentiate pregnancy 
from the menstrual cycle, there are no significan t and consistent 
changes during the first month of pregnancy that might permit 
the detection of pregnancy a few days after conception. These results, together with the findings of Dr. John Boling 
in the oestrous cycle of the rat, make it quite clear that electro­
metrics of the field characteristics of the living organism can 
provide useful information about the whole physiology of the 
generative tract. Since all of these experiments stemmed from the basic assump­
tion that the living organism possesses an electro-dynam ic field 
as a whole, with constituent and subsidiary parts or local fields, 
which are specific components of the living system, the well­
controlled experimental findings confirmed the general validity 
of the primary assumption. Any individual component of the whole system has, of course, 
its own characteristic field which is a part of the field of the 
whole organism. Any variations which may occur can be assumed 
to be variations in the flow of energy in the system, a flow of 
energy which arises first of all in chemistry and is controlled and 
directed by the electro-dynamic field of the whole organism. 57 THE FEMA LE FIELD 
1 
The experiments which had shown the positive correlation 
between the electro-metrics of the generative tract in women and 
the presence of malignancy throughout the tract led at once to a 
further examination of the possibility of electro-metric correlates 
of malignancy elsewhere. In the growth and development of every living system there 
is obviously some kind of control of the processes. In the midst 
of incredibly complex flux, direction is available for the control 
of this growth and for differentiation. As a distinguishe d zoolo­
gist once said, 'The growth and development of any living system 
would appear to be controlled by someone sitting "on the 
organism" and directing its whole living process.' One of the few things we know of in the Universe that has 
direction are the electrical properties of things, in general. The 
Field Theory suggested that it should be possible to determ ine 
the pol arity and direction of the flow of energy transformations 
in the living system. The organism, as a whole, depends on such 
directives for its continued existence; so also does atypical 
growth. Energy, however, is a basic requirem ent, indifferent to the 
direction in which it flows. It is important, therefore, to realize 
that in the development of growth and development of the 
organism there are forces in addition to the undirected properties 
of chemical changes, factors which give direction to the flow of 
energy. It cannot be denied that morphogenesis is directed. This is true 
of the whole organism and also of its constituent parts. Moreover, 
the very direction of developm ent implies a necessary relation­
ship between the units of which the system is composed, a re­
lationship which imparts to the organism that quality which 
makes the whole greater than the Sllm of its parts. Conside rations such as these led to an examination of the 
electrical properties of cancer-susceptible mic e. The experiments 
v. ere designed to determine whether or not the polarity vectors 
were altered in atypical growth. 58 THE FEMALE FIELD 
Through the courtesy of Dr. L. C. Strong and Dr. G. M. Smith, 
a considerable number of mice from the colonies of Dr. Strong, 
were studied weekly. There were four groups of such mice: 
A. normal control, B. a strain of mice known to have a high in­
cidence of mammary cancer occurring spontaneously, C. a strain 
of mice prone to atypical growth following the administration of 
carcinogens, and D. a number of mice from a strain which readily 
accepted implanted malignant tissue. Comparison of the groups made it clear that statistically the 
control group showed a different electrical pattern from that 
found in the animals with spontaneous breast cancer, malignancy 
produced by carcinogens, or the atypical growth of transplants. There were also statistically significant differences between spon­
taneous carcinogenics and the transplanted growth. While day­
by-day variations in both magnitude and polarity occurred there 
was sufficient variability to make it difficult to show a direct ane­
ta-one relationship for any individual animal. Clearly enough, 
there are other factors in the presence of atypical growth re­
sponsible for the variability. To carry out an experiment it is necessary to control conditions 
of food, water, and temperature. A few preliminary experiments 
indicated that the individual variability could be reduced sig­
nificantly. All the evidence so far collected makes it necessary to 
study them under more controlled laboratory conditions. Through the generous cooperation of Dr. H. S. N. Greene, 
some three hundred mice were intensively studied following 
the implantation in the breast region of the C38 strain of mice. The implantations were made by Dr. Greene in the right axilla. They were from malignant tissue labelled 4578B-PXB-PX and 
MTH. In addition, foetal and visceral implants were made from 
normal animals. Measurements were made between the right axilla and the left 
axilla in unanaesthetized mice. The common reference point for 
the potential differences between the axillae was the placement of 
an electrode in the mouth of the animal. Since the left side of 
the animal was not involved in implantation, it served to some 
extent as a control for the operated side. The results of the experiment were surprisingly consistent. 59 THE FEMALE FIEL D 
Twenty-four to twenty-eight hours after the implantation 
changes were to be observed in the voltage gradients. This differ­
ence increased steadily and quite smoothly to reach a maximum 
of approximately five millivolts on or about the eleventh day, 
following which it decreased. In the animals with the foetal implant representing, therefore, 
a rapidly growing mass of embryonic tissue, the difference began 
to appear a little later, and reached a peak on approximately the 
sixth day, following which the potential difference dropped to 
zero and reversed its polarity until the end of the experiment. In the slow-growing tumours potential differences began to 
emerge on the third or fourth day but reached their maximum 
of approximately three millivolts on the tenth or eleventh day. From there, until the end of the experiment, the differences in 
potential fell steadily to zero. The control, and those without 
growth, showed a variable between the two sides of less than a 
millivolt for the entire experiment. In all of these measurements, 
the axilla containing the implanted foreign material was negative 
to the opposite axillary region. It is cIear from these findings that the crest of atypical growth 
in the host organism produced measurable and reproducible 
electro-metric correlates. The rapidly growing tumours devel­
oped higher potentials more quickly than the slow-growing im­
plant. The foetal tissue started off rather promptly but early 
reached an electro-metric peak and thereafter declined to zero, 
subsequen tly to appear as a polar reversal which, in turn, re­
turned to zero. The slow-growing implants started late but ex­
hibited an electro-metric curve paralleling the essential slope 
of the rapidly growing tumours, but reached their lower maxi­
mum at approximately the same time as the rapidly growing 
tumours. These experiments on mice, of course, offered valuable con­
firmation of our findings that atypical voltage-gradients in the 
fields of women are associated with malignancy. 60 CH APTER FOUR 
The Ubiquitous Field 
1 
While we were carrying out experiments on men and women we 
were also exploring the electro-dynamic fields in other forms of 
life because we wanted to assure ourselves that these fields are 
a universal property of all living forms and are not confined to the 
higher forms of life. We explored the fields of a frog's eggs-as mentioned in the 
first chapter-not only to satisfy ourselves that something so 
small and relatively simple possessed a field but also to find sup­
port for our theory that the field controls the growth and de­
velopment of the form. Using micro-pipettes filled with salt solution and connected to 
the voltmeter we found different voltage gradients across differ­
ent axes of the eggs. We marked the axis of the largest voltage 
gradient with spots of Nile blue sulphate and later found, as the 
eggs developed, that the frog's nervous system always grew along 
the axis with the highest voltage gradient. This was an indication 
that the field is primary-the matrix that shapes the living form. Next we looked for a living system with some unquestioned 
design or pattern, the field of which could be examined through 
growth and developm ent. The nervous system of a vertebrate 
offers a pattern which can be analysed and which, we hoped, 
would yield some clues to the nature of the forces or laws which 
determine the pattern. Our choice fell on salamanders for our experimental animals 
because they are easily obtained and can be observed from the 
egg stage up to adult form; and the changes in the form as it 
grows and develops can be observed and described with great 
accuracy. 61 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
Amphibia, too, are admirably suited to the experimental 
analysis of the growth and development of the nervous system. They are vertebrates and, therefore, have a head and tail axis, 
a bilateral symmetry, a right side and a left side, a dorsal and 
ventral side. This is the most elementary aspect of the pattern 
of organization of the vertebrate nervous system. Moreover, by using microsurgical methods, it is possible to 
perform operations on the nervous system, to remove parts of 
it and to observe the consequences to its development. Pieces 
can be transplanted from one part of the nervous system to an­
other in order to examine the results. Finally, salamanders are easily raised in the laboratory, with 
no serious problems of care. No anaesthe tics are necessary and 
they are abundant in the spring of the year. We were reinforced in our choice of salamanders by the evid­
ence, slowly increasing over the years, that they possess certain 
electrical properties. We started with numerous experiments on the developing 
embryos of salamanders, because an analysis of the embryology 
of the nervous system promised data to support our Field Theory. In the first place, as the embryo is an aquatic animal, it was 
necessary to determine whether or not there were any significant 
electro-metrics of the embryo. Potential measurements were 
made, therefore, in the embryo from a point in the cephalic 
region, and another in the caudal region. These were studied over 
periods of time and showed characteristic changes with the 
growth and differentiating of the embryo itself. It soon became clear that there is an electro-metric correlate of 
the longitudinal axis of the salamander nervous system. There 
is also a bilateral symmetry between the right side and the left 
side of the axis, as might be expected from everything else we 
know about the developing organism. To run down this problem a little further, measurements were 
made of the unfertilized egg of a salamander, using the animal 
62 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
pole as a reference point, and a moving electrode around the 
equator of the egg in the four quadrants of the development. It is 
well known, of course, that the salamander egg at this stage is a 
sphere, showing little or no differentiation grossly except the 
difference between the animal and vegital pole. But there is no 
differentiation, so far as can be observed, in the quadrants of 
the sphere. Measurements were made, therefore, in the unfertil­
ized egg between the north, or animal pole, and four points on 
the equator. It was found from these measurements that there was one point 
on the equator which showed a marked increase in the voltage 
drop between the reference electrode and the point. The latter 
was marked with a spot of Nile blue sulphate so that it could be 
followed through the subsequent period of development. It was 
found-as our theory had suggested-that the point on the 
equator which marked the greatest voltage drop from the animal 
pole marked the head end of the developing salamander. A longitudinal axis of the developing nervous system was then 
established in the unfertilized egg. This maintained itself 
throughout the succeeding growth period and, surprisingly 
enough, there was no significant change in the electro-metrics of 
the unfertilized egg after fert ilization. This is astonishing, because fertilization is supposed to be a 
critical point in development. But apparently-in the sala­
mander, at least-the electric field properties of the egg are 
established quite independently not only of the fact of fertiliza­
tion but also of the plane of ingress of the sperm head into the 
egg. This suggests, at once, that the design of the living embryo 
is an electro-metric correlate which can be recorded objectively 
during the process of growth and development and turns out to 
be one of the constant factors during this whole process of 
developme nt. One of the strange things about developmrnt that has always 
been known is the extraordinary constancy in which the direc­
tion of development moves. As a distinguished friend of mine 
once said, 'The growth and developm ent of an embryo would 
seem to be the result of the fact that some kind of a factor sits 
on the embryo during its �ntire development and gives direction 
63 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
to it.' From the evidence at hand, up to date, it would seem 
fairly obvious that the one constant factor in growth and develop­
ment-which include not only the increase in the numbers of 
cells, but also their differentia tion-is the field of the organism. All these measurement s were made using silver-silver chloride 
electrodes immersed in micropipettes and connected to the high 
input impedance of a suitable amplifier with a galvanometer or 
a recording galvanometer in the output. At the suggestion of 
one of my early colleagues, Dr. Leslie F. Nims, now at Brook­
haven Laboratories, on Long Island, it was noticed that as the 
micropipette electrodes were pulled away from the surface of the 
embryo, a voltage gradient could still be recorded. In fact, drop­
off of voltage gradient carried on as far as one or one and a half 
millimetres from the embryo. This is truly extraordinary, for it makes it clear that the field 
properties of the embryo radiate through the medium of the 
liquid environment in which the embryo lives. Now this could occur only if the source of these potential 
gradients was the result of field activity. As a matter of fact, if 
one stops to think about it, if one puts a battery of any kind in a 
conducting medium, the battery very soon is exhausted, since 
the external medium acts as a low resistance shunt across the 
positive and negative poles of the battery. But in the embryo, 
although we have the same kind of voltage gradient as is present 
in the battery-at least so far as the measurable characteristics 
are concerned-nevertheless the field properties of the embryo 
do not short out in the liquid. These experiment s led to a further analysis of the field proper­
ties. It was suggested that if an embryo were rotated mechanic­
ally underneath two micropipette electrodes, there should be a 
constant rise and fall in voltage gradient as the head and tail axis 
of the embryo passed underneath the micropipette electrode. This experiment was set up with a mechanic ally revolving stage 
on which was placed a half-grown salamander embryo and the 
recorded output of the high input impedance amplifier trans­
mitted to a G-E photoelectric recording galvanometer. The result was extraordinary, for there was a sine wave out­
put from the revolving embryo, the frequenc y of which, of 
64 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
course, was a function of the speed with which the embryo 
revolved. Moreover, it was clear that the field axis was a constant 
to the whole procedure and resulted in a very interesting sine 
wave output from the embryo itself. This meant, too, that the 
micropipette electrodes were recording voltage gradients well 
away from the embryo itself. As a control, an inert glass rod was revolved under the same 
experimental conditions and produced a straight line on the 
recording galvanometer. To make a further check, a 'robot' was 
made of a piece of copper rod with a blob of solder at one end. Such a rod, under normal conditions, prod uces a voltage gradient, 
because of the bi-metallic components. This also was revolved in 
the same way as the embryo and produced the same kind of sine 
wave, the only difference being that, in time, the bi-metallic 
chemical voltage gradient decreased. Similar experiments were made with a full-grown salamander 
floated in a circular dish of salt solution in which, at opposite 
ends of a diameter, were immersed the electrodes, connected to a 
recording galvanometer. The dish was then slowly rotated and, since the salamander 
possessed a field with a positive and negative pole, it acted like 
the armature of an electrical generator. In consequence, as it 
rotated between the electrodes, it set up a tiny alternating 
cnrrent of very low frequency, which was recorded as a true sine 
wave. One day, perhaps, some enterprising experimenter will float a 
man or a woman in a rotating swimming-pool to demonstrate 
that there really is such a thing as a 'human dynamo' ! But the 
author's laboratory offered neither space nor facilities for such 
an experiment. 3 
The experiments described above made it clear that, using proper 
electro-m etric techniques, recorded voltage gradients without 
current drain from the system measured are a valid expression 
of the basic, primary electro-dynamic field. Since the experiments 
65 THE UBI QU ITOUS FIELD 
also indicated that direct contact with the living organism was 
not necessary to measure a volt-age gradient, a rigorously-con­
trolled experiment was set up, using the sciatic nerve of a frog, 
with the help of another colieague, Dr. Alexander Mauro, now 
at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. This experiment was 
designed to explore the field properties of a small part of a living 
system. The beaut ifully-precise formulation by Lorente de N6 of fields 
in an infinite-volume conductor accompanying the neural im­
pulse, travelling along the sciatic nerve of the frog, demanded 
that a search be made for experimental evidence of the existence 
of a quasi-elec trostatic field in the air surrounding a nerve 
trunk. A preliminary report of such a study is here presented. The 
existence of an electro-static field has been demonstrated. How­
ever, an analysis of the nature of this field is far from complete 
and much further study will be required. By an ingenious technique developed by Dr. Mauro, the re­
sults of the activity of the sciatic nerve of the frog were studied, 
using a thousand-megohm input-impedance preamplifier, fol­
lowed by suitable amplifiers with an output to a cathode-ray tube. It was possible to study the transmission of a single stimulus 
throughout the substance of the segment of the nerve under 
study, not only when the electrcdes were in direct contact, but 
also when they were at a measurable distance outside the nerve. The evidence resulting from these experiments gives further 
enlightenment as to the nature of the field irrliving systems. It is 
becoming increasingly clear that these fields are in fact quasi­
electro-static fields. Originally, the term 'electro-dyn amic field' 
was used to describe, in the most general way, the nature of the 
fields in living organisms, but it is now possible to give a more pre­
cise definition. Measurement of such fields indicates that forces 
exist not only in but also otltside of the nerve dmill g exci tatio n. 
Thus, to the study of steady state parameters of these fields 
that have been recorded in amphibia and-as we shall see­
plants, must be added these records of the changing properties 
of electrical fields in association with biologic activity. To be sure, 
the EEG and the EKG are instances of the same phenomenon 
66 THE UBIQUIT OUS FIEL D 
and in a sense the observations recorded here are no more than 
might be expected. All of them are the direct consequenc es of 
field properties of living systems. None of this implies that the field is conceived of as some 
mysterious property of living things. It is not another name for 
elan vital or entelechy. It is a definable concept capable of pre­
cise measurement and is to be thought of in the same terms as 
fields in the non-living Universe. Electric fields in physics are not only widely accepted, but 
technologie s based upon them have been extraordinarily pro­
ductive. In non-living matter, fields are definable in terms of 
forces between charges. They are, in part, a measure of the re­
lationships between entities. In living systems, therefore, since 
the entities of which they are composed are the same entities as 
are to be found in non-living matter, the same forces between 
the units may be presumed. The basic difference between the two 
lies in the enormously increased complexity of the necessary re­
latednesses in living organisms. It would seem reasonable to assume, therefore, that the rela­
tionship of entities in living organisms may be measured by field 
properties just as successfully as in atoms or between atoms. It should be noted that the electro-static fields do not exist 
in the absence of charges nor charges in the absence of fields. They are both fundamental properties of matter. In living 
organisms it can be said that chemical components, wherever they 
possess charges, cannot exist without fields nor can fields be 
found except in the presence of charges. It is equally dear that the business of living is not a static 
affair; it is a moving, dynamic process. For this energy is required 
and it is the chemistry of biological systems which provides it. But energy is a scalar property and is. itself, indifferent to the 
direction in which it flows. In general, it is the second law of 
thermodynamics which directs the flow in such a manner as to 
increase the entropy of the system. It seems from our observations that this direction is also 
characterized by electrical gradien ts, much as though the second 
law was augmented by electrical signposts. Moreover, these 
electrical signs have an astonishing constancy in spite of the 
67 THE UBI QU ITOUS FIELD 
enormously complex chemical flux. Such constancy of directional 
control, in fact, is one of the s triking attributes of the developing 
organism. Quas i-electro- static fields, although changing slowly, 
persist in time and can, perhaps to some approximation, be con­
ceived as providing the necessary direction. The experiments reported by us in collaboration with Dr. 
Mauro provide additional evidence of the validity of the original 
assumption. 4 
Pursuing our exploration of fields in widely-differen t living 
forms, we made a study of the voltage-gradients in the marine 
animal, Obelia, a polyp. These experiments were carried out 
through the courtesy of the late Dr. F. S. Hammett, of the 
Marine Experimental Station of the Lankenau Hospital Research 
Institute. They were made on animals collected at the experi­
mental station at Truro on Cape Cod. A series of measurements of the voltage gradients of definitive 
stages in the life cycle of an Obelia hybrid was carried out. These 
trace a rising curve of graded intensity parallel with the growth 
from the anlagen to the complete functioning animal. The values 
reach their peak in the feeding animal and then drop off as re­
gression to the senile state begins. With the attainment of 
senility and its consequent catabolic dissolution the direction 
of the voltage gradient is reversed. Fluctuations in voltage gradient parallel the fluctuations in 
developmen tal growth, as it progresses from an undifferentiated 
to the differentiated state. The conclusion was made that the 
growth and life cycle of an Obelia is characterized by definitive 
and progressive changes in voltage gradient correlated with the 
morphogen esis of the animal. There are a number of implications 
cf this study which deserve further examination. In the extremely short life-cycle of Obelia it is possible to 
cover the entire life span of the living organism in a relatively 
short time. During the early growth and differen tiatio n of the 
animal, increasing voltage gradients were recorded until a peak 
68 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
was reached at the time when the animal was fully developed and 
feeding. As is well-known, after this the activity of the animal begins 
to decline and a regression occurs with senility until the so­
called death of the particular hydranth. The electro-metric 
correlates of this regression were clearly evident. This tends to confirm some observations made in the study of 
mice that there is a fairly regular pattern of growth and de­
velopment up to the eventual death of the living system. During 
the first third of the animal's life, voltage gradients increase fairly 
steadily. During the middle third, voltage gradients tend to 
level off and form a plateau. The last third of an animal's life 
shows evidence of regression with a consequent falling off of 
voltage gradients until death itself ensues. All of these experiments show a relationship between the 
growth and development of a living system and its electro-metric 
correlates. One of the important consequences of the field theory, 
however, is that the electro-metric characteristics of the system 
in some way control the pattern of organization or, if you like, 
the design of the system. 5 
With the generous co-operation of the late Professor Edmund 
W. Sinnott, a study was made of the electrical patterns in cucur­
hits. In this field, Dr. Sinnott, an expert, has called attention to 
the fact that the shape of gourds is not a function of the morpho­
logical characteristics of the cellular components. The cucur bits 
all have a characteristic building block, and yet the shape of the 
gourd made with these building blocks differs. Just as one can 
build a house with bricks of a uniform size and shape, the design 
of the whole results in quite different external characteristics. Using cucurbit fruits, provided by Dr. Sinnott, electro-metrics 
were made. In this study, potential differences were measured 
along the axial and the equitorial diameters of young ovaries 
and developing fruits of three races of wcurbita pe:po, differing 
markedly in shape and designated as elongated, round, and flat. 69 THE UBI QUI TOUS FIELD 
The size of the potential differences bears little relation to the 
absolute size of the dimensions along which they occur, but the 
ratio of the potential differences is closely correlated with 
the ratio of the dimensions. As the fruit grow larger, the potential gradients tcnd in all 
races to decrease, but the ratios between the gradients and the 
true dimensions tend to increase in the elongate, to decrease in 
the flat, and to be unchange d in the round race. To explain these various facts, it is tempting to suggest that 
the pattern of potential differences here described may have some 
causal relation to the morphological pattern which appears as the 
fruit develops. The evidence here presented is in entire agree­
ment with that obtained in animal material and may be inter­
preted in the same way. The data offers for the consideration of 
students of plant morphogenesis a series of new facts from a 
field which, if well cultivated, may become very fruitful. The association with Professor Sinnott was extraordinarily 
fruitful. Many suggestions were made as to the kind of electro­
metric studies which could be made on growing systems. Two of 
these were furthered. The first of these, following Professor 
Sinnott, was carried out with the help of Oliver Nelson, at that 
time a student in the Graduate School of Yale University, De­
partment of Botany, and closely associated with the Connecticut 
Agricultural Experiment Station. The suggestion was made that 
electro-metric studies be made of a single seed. The choice was 
necessitated largely by practical considerations and fell on corn 
kernels-sweet corn kernels. With the co-opera tion of the Connecticut Agricultural Experi­
ment Station, it became possible to study the electrical patterns 
in several pure and hybrid strains of sweet corn. These seeds had 
been under study for some time. The strains differ considerably 
in genetic constitution and in the degree of hybrid vigour shown 
in crosses between them. Four inbred strains were studied and 
three hybrids. One of these was a mid-season yellow sweet corn, 
an inbred of unknown orig in. Another was a semi-dwarf mutant 
of P-39; it is normal in appearance but much reduced in size. It 
has been shown by Singleton that they differ by only one gene. In this material, therefore, we had four stable pure strains of 
70 THE UBIQU ITOUS FIELD 
significantly different properties with which to correlate electrical 
patterns. The three hybrids show a gradation of hybrid v;gour.
333048200-Harold-Saxton-Burr-Blueprint-for-Immortality-Electric-Patterns-of-Life-OCR-pdf.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        For the range of chloride ion concentration found 
in solutions that are in physiological equilibrium, the silver 
chloride electrode is much more reproducible than the earlier 
much-used zinc electrode and can be used in the same solution 
that makes electrical contact with the living system, thereby 
avoiding liquid junction potentials. Silver chloride electrodes have 
been used by physical chemists in many exact electromotive 
force determinations and have been found to be stable and repro­
ducible to within ten microvolts or better, when directly com­
pared in the same solution. The original electrodes were designated as Type Two by 
Harned and consisted of silver obtained by heating silver oxide, 
supported on a platinum wire, and silver chloride formed by 
subsequent electrolysis in a hydrochloric acid solution. These 
were complicated to make, cumbersome and difficult to apply 
practically in the field. Moreover, the original requirem ent that 
we should be able to measure voltage gradients down to a sensi­
tivity of roughly ten microvolts, proved to be unimportant. In 
the beginning, however-since it was not clear from the liter­
ature just what magnitudes of the standing potential in living 
systems might be expected-it was necessary to aim at maximum 
sensitivity. Subsequently, however, many hundreds of thou­
sands of determinations have made it abundant ly clear that in 
most living systems, except perhaps the very small unicellular 
systems, the voltages developed are of the order of millivolts. The current technique used to make electrodes to bridge the 
gap between protoplasm and amplifier was devised with the aid 
of a physical chemist, Dr. Leslie E. Nims, formerly of Yale and 
now of Brookhaven. Fine silver wire or rod of any suitable dimen­
sion is either chlorided by electrolysis in He} or KCI solution or, 
following the recommendation of Shedlowsky, is dipped into 
molten silver chloride which can be obtained at most manufactur­
ing chemists. Usually, it is necessary to make many electrodes 
and to pair them up so that between any two electrodes there is a 
minimum of self-potential. 40 THE CO URSE AND THE COM PASS 
In the early experiments the electrodes were placed in a physio­
logical salt solution in reasonable ionic balance with the salt 
content of living systems and connected the living protoplasm to 
the electrode chamber by a salt bridge. For precision work, this is 
probably the method of choice, but since the magnitudes are in 
the order of millivolts, the whole procedure can be simplified very 
considerably by using an inert salt paste. For this purpose, the Parke-Davis 'Unibase', developed as a 
foundation for most of the skin creams, can be utilized if, to it, 
is added sodium chloride. The concentration of sodium chloride in 
the 'Unibase' paste does not seem to be greatly important for 
ionic balance between the paste and the protoplasm can be 
reached in a reasonable time. As a matter of interest, electrodes 
imbedded in a 'Unibase' salt paste and placed in chambers in con­
tact with the cambium of trees have been used for more than 
two decades, with considerable success. Most of these electrode 
placements will remain adequate over long periods of time--­
weeks and months-but they can be replaced so readily that it 
is not difficult to continue long-time studies using this technique. Since the type of measurement being made sets the conditions for 
the type and dimensions of the electrodes, and since the areas to 
be measured in a living system are limited only by the surface 
area of the organism, specific directions for making electrodes and 
electrode chambers can be omitted. With properly designed electrodes, measurements can be made 
all over the surface of any living organism from slime mould, 
through experimental animals, to and including man, with more 
than adequate reproducibility. The ingenuity of the investiga tor 
is the only limit on either the type of electrode to be used or the 
placement of the electrode. In general, the electrode that is con­
nected to the ground lead of the amplifier is usually put some­
where on the Hving system at some distance from the area which 
is being under investigation. The so-called 'hot' electrode, then, is 
placed as dose as common-sense dictates to the area under in­
Vestigation. What is recorded, therefore, is not specifically a value 
or a magnitude that is in itself important, but the relationship 
between any two values measured by the instrument. This makes 
41 THE COUR S E AND THE COMPAS S 
it clear that we are dealing with relatednesses, rather than abso­
lute magnitude. It has been known since the time of Willard Gibbs that it is 
impossible to assign a given magnitude to a potential of any 
part of the material included between the two electrodes, or to 
any phase boundary involved between the two electrodes. One 
can only say as mentioned above, that we are dealing primarily 
with a difference, a relatedness between the two points under 
consideration reached by the two electrodes. Most specific phase 
boundaries can be identified as the source of the voltage gradient. There are innumerable such phase boundaries in any living 
system, each of which is an adequate source of a voltage gradient. All that we can record is the difference between the potential at 
one point and that of another point in the living system. Since we are dealing with relatednesses, the whole point of 
the technique described here is the change in this relatedness with 
time. Moreover, since all living systems are individually unique, 
differing from all other organisms of the same type, each indi­
vidual system being measured has to serve as its own control. This 
points again to the importance of change in the relatedness with 
the passage of time. This does not hold that the potential differ­
ences observed are without significance but simply that we are 
unable with our present techniques to assign a value to a poten­
tial difference at any point. Needless to say, one of the standard questions raised by all 
this procedure is the source of the potential differences which 
establish the field in the living system. It is perfectly clear from 
all that we know about physical chemistry of solutions, even the 
complex ones of living systems, that the measured electro-motive 
force is derivable from inherent phase boundaries* to be found 
whenever two or more states of matter exist side by side. It must be emphasized, however, that the methods of measure­
ment used in our laboratories over the past thirty years, 
must be followed rigidly and explicitly. After all, one is balanc­
ing electron flow in one vacuum tube against an electron flow in 
another, in a bridge arrangement. This means that one is dealing 
* The term 'phase boundary' designat es the line of contact between 
two dissimilar material substances. 42 THE COURSE AND THE COM PASS 
with measuring devices akin to balancing a mercury drop on the 
point of a needle. In our laboratory, this technique has worked, 
but it has been clear that unless it is followed certainly and care­
fully, variations will be found which are inexplicable and which 
upset the validity of the measurements. 6 
With our 'navigational instruments'-a high impedance am­
plifier and silver-silver chloride electrodes working through salt 
bridge in contact with living systems-we have been able to de­
velop a technique which gives reliable results. With this it soon 
became clear that every living system possesses an electrical field 
of great complexi ty. This can be measured with considerable cer­
tainty and accuracy and shown to have correlations with growth 
and development, degeneration and regeneration, and the orienta­
tion of component parts in the whole system. Perhaps more inter­
esting that anyone thing, this field exhibits remarkable stability 
through the growth and developm ent of an egg. It was a basic requirement of this field theory that it be 
assumed to he a primary characteristic of Nature, in general, and 
of living systems, in particular. It possesses many, if not all, of 
the properties necessary to control movement and position of all 
charged particles within this system. It has those necessary 
vector or directional properties which are of vital necessity for 
any understanding of how growth and developm ent can occur 
under careful, rigid control. The electrical phenomena associated with the field must be 
considered to be a primary attribute of Nature, a cause of the 
arrangement of all the component parts in Nature, not only 
living but also non-living systems. In other words, the working 
hypothesis of the studies to be reported here is that the Field is 
basic with the necessary power and directional properties to de­
termine the processes inherent in the growth and developmen t of 
any living system. The field is primary and from it stem all the myriads of con-
43 THE COURS E AND THE COMPAS S 
sequences which are to be seen in Nature. The specific data which 
so strongly support this assumption, at least insofar as our present 
knowledge goes, will be presented in detail in the following pages. 44 CH AP TER THREE 
The Female Field 
1 
We were ready to set sail. We had developed the navigational 
instruments and techniques to guide us over uncharted seas to­
wards a hypothetical goal. But these seas we hoped to explore-the electro-dyn amic fields 
of life-would not yield their secrets if we disturbed them by our 
passage. So we had to use not a vessel that ploughed through their 
surface but rather a hovercraft that does not disturb the terrain 
over which it passes. In other words, our instruments and tech­
niques were designed to measure and map the electro-dyn amic 
fields with the minimum disturbance of their electrical poten­
tials. With our instruments we could measure the voltage gradients 
of living systems which are quite independent of changing 
current and resistance. It must again be emphasized that our 
measurements are as near as possible pure voltage measurements. To be sure this probably can never be done with absolute 
accuracy. But, for all practical purposes, in our measurements the 
current drain from the system being measured is reduced to the 
minimum. Hence we do not disturb the living system while the 
mCJsurement s are being made. All the necessary energy to keep 
the instrument in operation or, if you like, our hovercraft hover­
ing, is derived from external sources, not from the system being 
measured. This is imperative. The beginning of our voyage is in a land-locked harbour where 
there is a certain amount of information about the harbour and 
its surrounding terrain. We know that living systems have elec­
trical properties. Examples are the electro-ca rdiogram, the electro­
encephalogram, the action current potential of nervous impulse, 
45 THE FEMALE FIELD 
electrical changes which are associated with muscle contraction 
and, in all probability, the changes which occur during the 
activity of glandular secretions. These are all well-recognized phenomena, but so far there has 
been no general principle which would explain their existence. It has usually been assumed that all these changes in the electri­
cal properties of a living system are the consequence of biological 
activity. But it is our hunch that a primary electrical field in the 
living system is responsible. The reason for this should be clear. When we pick up heart waves and brain waves from living 
systems the pick-up electrodes are never, or very rarely, in 
direct contact with the system under measurement. This means 
there must be some forces in operation which transmit the 
activity of muscle, or nerve, from the organ itself through the 
tissues of the body to the electrode wherever it may be. One arm 
and one leg, in the case of the cardiogram, or on the scalp in the 
case of the Berger rhythms, or brain waves. It is generally accepted that the changes in the electro-cardio­
gram, for example, which can be recorded from one arm and one 
leg, are the result of some kind of transport, possibly of charged 
ions. But the fact is clear to anyone who has examined these in 
detail that the speed of the transmission is far too rapid to be 
explained by the movement of a charged particle from cardiac 
muscle to the far-distant leg. The assumption of a field, however, 
gives an adequate foundation for the recording at the periphery 
and at some distance, of the phenomena associated with a basic 
biological property. With our craft hovering above the surface of the sea, and 
thereby causing no wash or ripple in the sea itself, we leave the 
harbour towards the distant buoy. This buoy is an unknown 
differentiation on the surface of the sea. When we find it we must 
tackle the question that this discovery poses: Is it really true 
that all biological systems exhibit a significant set of electrical 
properties. The first thing to be done, therefore, is to try to determine by 
measuring of a variety of systems whether there are always 
electro-metric properties in a living organism. So, over the last 
thirty years, almost every form of living organism has been 
46 THE FEMALE FIELD 
studied, some of them quite cursorily and others in more detail, 
from bacteria up to and including man. And so far as our present 
information goes, there is unequivocal evidence that wherever 
there is life, there are electrical properties. But again, it must be stressed that these electrical properties, 
measured under the conditions of this trip, are voltage gradients, 
not current movement, not changes in resistance to the passage of 
current. These electrical voltage gradients in the living systems are the 
logical consequences of the Electro-dy namic Theory and only to 
be expected. But we must go beyond theory: its logical con­
sequences must be put to experimental tests to develop what 
Northrop has called epistemic correIa tions or what Margenau 
has called the correspondencies between the logical conclusions 
from the Theory and the findings in an experimental laboratory 
where adequate controls can be instituted. 2 
If there are electrical gradients-voltage gradients-in living 
systems, what are their essential characteristics. They must have 
magnitude and, since they are electrical, they must have direc­
tional properties; in other words, polar properties, a positive and 
a negative aspect. To learn more about these gradients one of the first things 
undertaken in the laboratory was-naturally enough-to 
measure human beings. At first sight, this could be an exceed­
ingly complicated problem, but with the advice of Professor 
Leslie Nims, a very simple approach was adopted. With our silver-silver chloride electrodes in a common physio­
logical salt solution, the known self-potential in the electrode 
was reduced by selection to a minimum, usually not greater than 
one-half a millivolt. Then with two cups available, one electrode 
Was introduced into the salt solution of one cup and another 
electrode into the salt solution of a second cup. It was a simple 
matter, then, to dip the finger of the hands into these cups; the 
index finger of the left hand into the left-hand cup, and the index 
47 THE FEMALE FIELD 
finger of the right hand into the right-hand cup. This com­
pleted the external circuit in the measuring device. Immediately it was clear that there was a voltage gradient 
between the left �nger and the right �nger. This could be checked 
readily, for all that was necessary was to move the right-hand 
finger into the left-hand cup and vice versa. If the readings were 
valid, the magnitude should be the same in the second series 
of measurements as in the first. Normally, with our experiments 
these measurements were repeated ten times, or until we had 
reproducible, reliable results. As soon as it was found that such measurements could be made 
readily, the question arose whether there was any significant 
difference between human beings and those measurements. As a 
result a great many measurements were carried out in the 
laboratory, using the personnel of the laboratory as subjects. We 
found to our delight that the magnitudes of the potentials were 
rarely less than two millivolts and often many times higher. The spread-or magnitud e-of the measurements was so great 
that it was found possible to divide human beings into four 
categories. Individuals with low voltage gradients between the 
right and left forefinger; at the other extreme, individuals with 
voltage gradients between the right and left forefinger of some­
thing in the order of ten millivolts. In between, there was a third 
group, a low-high group, around five or six millivolts, and a 
fourth high-low group around two to four millivolts. Interestingly enough, these were quite consistent during the 
period of measurement but, what is more remarkable, they were 
quite consistent with the passage of time. These experi ments were 
carried out over many days to be sure that the results were re­
liable. If the electrical gradients in the living system were the 
result of the chemistry of the organism, the constancy which we 
recorded would simply not be possible. We could not see any significant relationships between the 
individuals with low potential gradients and those with high 
potential gradients by any techniques which we were able to 
devise. The subjects were all males, and it was suggested that 
there might be an electrical difference between males and females. Hence, measurements were made on female members of the labor-
48 THE FEMALE FIELD 
atory group, day after day, week after week, and month after 
month. We found to our astonishment that during the course of a 
month's measurements the female voltage gradients showed re­
markable increases, a sharp rise, for a period of twenty-four 
hours. This occurred on many occasions and gave us reason to 
wonder as to the possible origin of this phenomenon. Examina­
tion of the personal records of the females involved made it clear 
that these rises in voltage gradient occurred during the approxi­
mate middle of the menstrual cycle. Needless to say, this sug­
gested at once that the rise might be associated with ovulation, 
since the endocrinologists have been telling us for years that 
ovulation occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle and is, in 
all probability, the cause of the onset of the menses. 3 
This was an exciting event, for now we could see beyond the 
first buoy a second buoy in the distance: a change in voltage 
gradient associated with fundamental biological activity. Atten­
tion must be called, however, to the fact that the change was 
one of magnitude, not of the polarity of the measurements. Since not all mammals have the same history, it was necessary 
to seek an animal in which the time of ovulation could be pre­
dicted. Fortunately, the rabbit is such an animal. Proper stimula­
tion of the cervix in the female rabbit results, under normal 
conditions, in the appearance of ovulation some nine hours after 
stimulus. The following experiment, therefore, was set up: A rabbit was 
stimulated, and nine hours later anaesthetized. Its abdomen was 
then opened and a salt-filled chamber was placed around the 
ovary. The cold electrode was attached to the anima l's body, and 
the 'hot' electrode, connected to the grid of the first tube, was 
placed in the salt-filled chamber not too far away from the ovary 
itself. Then, with a microscope, the surface of the ovary was itseH 
continuously examined while the changes in voltage gradient 
between the two electrodes were recorded on the recording gal-
49 THE FEMALE FIELD 
vanometer. It was thus possible to see the event of ovulation 
through the microscope and, simultaneously, the recorded 
changes in voltage gradient on the recorder. To our delight the moment of rupture of the follicle and the 
release of the egg was accompanied by a sharp change in the 
voltage gradient on the electrical recorder. This experiment was 
carried out enough times until it was perfectly clear that there 
could be little or no question that the electrical change was 
associated with the event of ovulation. If, in an experimental animal, electrical changes were seen to 
coincide with ovulation, then it might be possible to assume that 
the observed voltage-gradients in women might serve to time ovu­
lation in human beings. This is a very important problem, for the 
exact time when eggs are released from the human ovary has not 
been really determined. As these voltage gradients occur during 
the middle of a menstrual cycle then, if the Knaus theory is 
correct, ovulation occurs in the middle of the cycle, and therefore 
the electrical changes in the human female should indicate the 
time of ovulation in that particular individual. This is not an easy experiment to perform on humans but, 
through a fortunate set of circumst ances, it was possible for us to 
do a study on one girl. It was necessary for her to have an elective 
laparotomy and she was willing to corne into the hospital and 
have the operation performed at a time when our electrical 
records indicated that it was the right time to do it. She was in 
the hospital for fifty-six hours before the operation and during 
that time was continuously measured by the recording galvan­
ometer. There were times, of course, when short gaps occurred in 
the record for a variety of physiological reasons, but the fact 
remains that there was a rather astonishing consistency in 
the electric measurements. The measurements were made between the central abdominal 
wall, as a reference electrode, and the wall of the vagina in the 
vicinity of the cervix, as the active electrode. When the electrical 
records showed this marked change in voltage gradient in the 
patient, she was moved to the operating room and, under the skill­
ful hands of Dr. Luther Musselman, a laparotomy was perform ed, 
50 THE FEMALE FIEL D 
an ovary uncovered, and a recently ruptured follicle noted. This, 
obviously confirmed the findings in the rabbit. 4 
At this point occurred one of the most interesting events of 
this adventure in science: 
Dr. John Rock, of Brookline, Massachusetts, head of a gynae­
cological hospital, evinced interest in the techniques and under­
took to develop the procedures in his hospital. We gave him all 
the advice and help that we could, and eventually he set up a 
number of measurements at that hospital. He reported in a paper 
some ten or more instances of ovulation occurring in the middle 
of the menstrual cycle as indicated by electrical measurements. He completed these experiments, or at least the first of them, how­
ever, before we had been able to find a suitable patient for our 
work in New Haven. Like the gentleman he is, he withheld publi­
cation of his findings until after we were able to publish ours. Subsequently, he continued these experiments and confirmed our 
original findings. An accident occurred, however, when a house officer inad­
vertently made some measurement s on a female patient not in 
the middle of the menst rual cycle. He found to his dismay-and 
that of the rest of the observers- that these electro-metric 
changes did not always come in the middle of the cycle. It will be recalled that the Knaus theory holds that ovulation 
occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle. This theory was 
based on statistical measure of pregnancies following returning 
soldiers during the first World War; and there is probably little 
question that the statistics are valid so far as groups are con­
cerned. Unfortunately, that does not demonstrate beyond per­
adventure that in every individual ovulation must necessarily 
occur in the middle of the menstrual cycle. Dr. Rock felt, how­
ever, that the statistical evidence was valid; and therefore any 
changes in electro-metrics of the living patient, not in the middle 
of the cycle, could not be related to ovulation. This terminated 
51 THE FEMALE FIELD 
Dr. Rock's experiment, much to our dismay, but we persisted, 
nevertheless, in our study. With the help of Dr. Dorothy Barton, an extended study 
was Illade of a group of women in the New Haven Hospital, 
most of whom were nurses living a fairly rigorous existence, with 
more regularity than most of us undergo. These women included 
subjects of all ages. Some of them were post-menopausal. One of the interesting consequences of this study was the fact 
that about thirty per cent of the women seemed to ovulate in the 
middle of the cycle, granting the validity of the electro-metric 
technique. But in all probabili ty-accor ding to electrical measure­
ments-twa-thirds of the women ovulated over the entire men­
strual cycle, even during the menses. This was at variance with 
the endocrinological theory of ovulation and was difficult for 
many people to accept. Women over the menstrual period and in the non-fertile 
period and those in the so-called menopause, showed no such 
electro-metric changes with the passage of time. This was true 
whether the menopause was the natural one or one resulting 
from surgery of the generative tract. For a number of years measurements were made on patients, 
sent in by surrounding doctors, to time ovulation in their par­
ticular instances. One of the patients sent to us was one who had 
been married for a number of years without issue. The question 
was raised, of course, as to the reason for the infertility. Though 
all the known techniques of that time were employed no signifi­
cant fact was uncovered to explain why there was no fertile result. The patient was taught to make the measurements herself and 
did them religiously once a day, day-after-day, for many months. At no time was there any evidence of voltage variations. Subse­
quently, when a laparotomy was required, it was found that the 
patient had atrophied ovaries, apparently caused by their early 
involvement in tuberculosis. At no time had she ovulated and 
there were no electro-metric changes. This raises the question of the necessarily causal relationship 
between ovulation and the onset of menst ruation. In the group 
of patients studied, moreover, while the great majority showed 
fairly regular menstrual periods of the average length, there were 
52 THE FEMALE FIELD 
a number whose menstrual histories were very irregular. One 
patient in particular exhibited menstruation only three times in 
a year, and yet during that year there were three instances where 
there was a marked electro-metric change unrelated to the onset of 
menstruation itself and suggested that ovulation had occurred. The evidence is clear. Like brain waves and heart waves, electro­
metric changes occur during ovulation and can be recorded in 
the living subject. Furthermore, the results show that ovulation 
may take place at any time in the menstrual cycle, although in 
the majority of women studied the ovulation record showed the 
usual mid-cycle peak. It is equally clear that there is no necessary 
relationship between ovulation and menstruation, for either may 
exist without the other; ovulation may occur without menstrua­
tion and menses without ovulation. 5 
Published reports of our experiments with women were read 
by the distinguished obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr. Louis 
Langman, of New York University and Bellevue HospitaL As a 
result, he carne to the writer's laboratory and discussed the ques­
tion of whether or not the electro-metric timing of ovulation 
could be used in connection with artificial insemina tion. More­
over, because the reports indicated that electro-metric records 
suggested relationship between the developing ovaries and its 
follicle, he further questioned whether or not they might not be 
used to detect cancer. The result was a rewarding and very fruit­
ful association over a number of years. Starting with the assumption that the electro-metric peaks 
occurring during the menstrual cycle of normal women indicated 
ovulation, Dr. Langman decided to use the technique as a means 
of determining when best to employ artificial insemination. As 
a result, he was equipped with the necessary technical apparatus, 
including the electrode, the high input impedance amplifier and 
the G. E. photoelectric recorder. Since Dr. Langman had had indifferent success in a series of 
ten cases, using other timing procedures, artificial insemination 
53 THE FE MALE FIELD 
was attempted in those instances when the electro-metric shift 
indicated that ovulation had recently occurred. To his and our 
delight, the average of successes was considera bly higher using 
the electro-metric technique than that employed by other 
methods of timing ovulation. It seemed clear, however, that Dr. Langman's main interest 
was not only in the timing of ovulation, but also in the problem 
of malignancy in the generative tract in women. Fortunately, through a grant, and with the cooperation of the 
Bellevue Hospital Gynaecological Service, more than a hundred 
patients were examined electro-metrically. The records were 
kept carefully and a marked voltage gradient between cervix of 
the uterus and a reference electrode on the ventral abdominal 
wall often appeared on the recording galvanometer. After a sufficient number of tests had been run to make sure 
we were dealing with a valid finding, Dr. Langman and his 
assistant examined something in the neighbourhood of one 
thousand patients. These patients were on the wards of the 
hospital and were subject to a variety of syndromes. They in­
cluded fibromas, as well as the usual run of pathological events 
in the generative tract of these women. In those that showed a 
marked change in the voltage gradient between the cervix and 
the ventral abdominal wall, careful watch was kept through sub­
sequent laparotomy. There were a hundred and two cases where there was a sig­
nificant shift in the voltage gradient, suggesting malignancy. Surgical con�rmation was found in ninety-�ve of the hundred 
and two cases. The actual position of the malignancy varied all the way from 
the fundus, to the tubes and to the ovarian tissue itself. It is 
interesting to note that the electro-metric evidence of sharp volt­
age change occurred in malignancies found not only in the im­
mediate vicinity of the cervix but also through all the rest of 
the generative tract, including the ovary itself. Thus we had an 
astonishingly high percentage of successful identification of 
r:J. alignancy in the generative tract, confirmed by biopsy. The fact tha t malignancy in the ovarian tissue was recognized 
electro -metrically, and confirmed by biopsy-even though the 
54 THE FEMALE FIELD 
malignant tissue was several centimet res distant from the active 
electrode in contact with the cervix-is in line with the dista nt 
readings of the EKe and EEe. The order of magnitude of these 
changes in voltage gradient was such that the possibility of 
changing pH of the generative tract could be ruled out. Surprisingly enough, these findings were never picked up in 
the literature and have not been extended further or repeated 
under other conditions. This probably is because it is difficult for 
people to recognize that these changes represent changes in the 
�eld of the system; and, therefore-as in the case of the EKe and 
the EEe-the active electrode need not be in direct contact with 
the tissue which is showing the greatest changes in voltage 
gradient. It took over thirty years before the EKe was perfected to the 
point where it could become a useful adjunct in the clinician's 
office. By that time the empirical results were so clear-cut that 
the value of the electro-cardiogram could not be questioned. The 
explanation of EKe, however, has never been really unravelled 
satisfactorily. The fact that the electrodes do not have to be in 
contact with the heart, that the change is exceedingly rapid and 
cannot be explained by electro-phoresis or any of the other simple 
answers to the transmission of changes of voltage gradient, was 
finally ignored because of the value of the empirical results. Similarly, in the case of the electrical ovulation changes and 
the malignancy changes in the generative tract of women, it is 
not necessary for the electrode to be in direct contact with the 
tissue showing the great change. But the voltage-change is trans­
mitted over a distance promptly and in such a form that at 
present the only successful explanation is that the electro­
metric characters of tissue, in general, and of the generative 
tract, in particular, are transmitted by the primary electro­
dynamic field. 6 
The results reported above suggested that the relationship be­
tween ovulation and menstruation was not on quite such a firm 
55 THE FE MALE FIELD 
foundation as had been generally assumed. There can be no ques­
tion that the chemistry of the endocrines is an important factor 
in these activities of the generative tract. Primarily, however, 
the chemistry provides the energy necessary for these activities, 
and it has been almost entirely overlooked that the chemistry 
involved in any physiological process must, necessarily, have 
direction. The source of this direction can be assumed safely to be the 
result of the activity of the nervous system and there is plenty 
of evidence in the literature to suggest that in the hypothalamic 
region of the brain there are nuclear masses whic h are concerned 
primarily with the onset of ovulation, its completion and, also, 
that another set of neural mechanisms has equal control over the 
menstrual cycle. While experiments on ovulation in humans were going on, 
parallel studies were carried out on experimental animals. With 
the co-operation of the distinguished gynaecologist, Dr. Luther 
Musselman, also Dr. Dorothy Barton, Dr. John Boling, and Dr. Vincent Gott, and numerous patient and cooperative subjects, 
studies were carried out on rats, in particular, on rabbits, cats, 
and so on. Various stages in the oestrous cycle in animals were 
found to have electro-metric correlates which are valuable indi­
cators of the kind of physiological processes which are going on 
during menstruation, and during the whole cycle of oestrous 
phenomena. In addition to the original findings on the rabbit, 
Dr. Gott, in particular, extended them to the ovulation phenom­
ena in monkeys. As a result of the very generous cooperation of Dr. Gertrude 
Van Wagenen. it was possible for Dr. Gott to study the ovulation 
problem in a group of Rhesus females. Five animals, for a total of 
twelve menstrual cycles, were studied. It was found that in ten 
out of twelve cycles there was a significant and consistent peak 
of negative voltage that was higher than any other peak in the 
cycle and. because of its distinctive pattern, may be distinguished 
from any other peaks in the cycle. This distinctive peak occurred 
in every cycle between the eleventh and fourteenth day, and this 
is the period in which most of the ovulations are known to occur. It is believed that this distinctive and reproducible peak is the 
56 THE FEMALE FIELD 
electrical concomitant of ovulation. Possibly the two cycles without a significant peak, between 
the eleventh and fourteenth days, are anovulatory cycles which 
are fairly common in the monkey. Bi-weekly or weekly records 
of the abdominal vaginal potential difference were made in two 
monkeys from the date of conception until delivery six months 
later. In other animals, records were taken from the second 
month of pregnancy to the date of delivery. The records tend to level out somewhat as pregnancy pro­
ceeds, so that by the third month the graph is almost a horizontal 
line. The cervix remains negative after the second week of preg­
nancy until the beginning of the third month, except for rare 
instances when it becomes positive. By the third month, the 
voltage has dropped to near the zero line where it hovers until 
delivery. Despite these characteristics which differentiate pregnancy 
from the menstrual cycle, there are no significan t and consistent 
changes during the first month of pregnancy that might permit 
the detection of pregnancy a few days after conception. These results, together with the findings of Dr. John Boling 
in the oestrous cycle of the rat, make it quite clear that electro­
metrics of the field characteristics of the living organism can 
provide useful information about the whole physiology of the 
generative tract. Since all of these experiments stemmed from the basic assump­
tion that the living organism possesses an electro-dynam ic field 
as a whole, with constituent and subsidiary parts or local fields, 
which are specific components of the living system, the well­
controlled experimental findings confirmed the general validity 
of the primary assumption. Any individual component of the whole system has, of course, 
its own characteristic field which is a part of the field of the 
whole organism. Any variations which may occur can be assumed 
to be variations in the flow of energy in the system, a flow of 
energy which arises first of all in chemistry and is controlled and 
directed by the electro-dynamic field of the whole organism. 57 THE FEMA LE FIELD 
1 
The experiments which had shown the positive correlation 
between the electro-metrics of the generative tract in women and 
the presence of malignancy throughout the tract led at once to a 
further examination of the possibility of electro-metric correlates 
of malignancy elsewhere. In the growth and development of every living system there 
is obviously some kind of control of the processes. In the midst 
of incredibly complex flux, direction is available for the control 
of this growth and for differentiation. As a distinguishe d zoolo­
gist once said, 'The growth and development of any living system 
would appear to be controlled by someone sitting "on the 
organism" and directing its whole living process. ' One of the few things we know of in the Universe that has 
direction are the electrical properties of things, in general. The 
Field Theory suggested that it should be possible to determ ine 
the pol arity and direction of the flow of energy transformations 
in the living system. The organism, as a whole, depends on such 
directives for its continued existence; so also does atypical 
growth. Energy, however, is a basic requirem ent, indifferent to the 
direction in which it flows. It is important, therefore, to realize 
that in the development of growth and development of the 
organism there are forces in addition to the undirected properties 
of chemical changes, factors which give direction to the flow of 
energy. It cannot be denied that morphogenesis is directed. This is true 
of the whole organism and also of its constituent parts. Moreover, 
the very direction of developm ent implies a necessary relation­
ship between the units of which the system is composed, a re­
lationship which imparts to the organism that quality which 
makes the whole greater than the Sllm of its parts. Conside rations such as these led to an examination of the 
electrical properties of cancer-susceptible mic e. The experiments 
v. ere designed to determine whether or not the polarity vectors 
were altered in atypical growth. 58 THE FEMALE FIELD 
Through the courtesy of Dr. L. C. Strong and Dr. G. M. Smith, 
a considerable number of mice from the colonies of Dr. Strong, 
were studied weekly. There were four groups of such mice: 
A. normal control, B. a strain of mice known to have a high in­
cidence of mammary cancer occurring spontaneously, C. a strain 
of mice prone to atypical growth following the administration of 
carcinogens, and D. a number of mice from a strain which readily 
accepted implanted malignant tissue. Comparison of the groups made it clear that statistically the 
control group showed a different electrical pattern from that 
found in the animals with spontaneous breast cancer, malignancy 
produced by carcinogens, or the atypical growth of transplants. There were also statistically significant differences between spon­
taneous carcinogenics and the transplanted growth. While day­
by-day variations in both magnitude and polarity occurred there 
was sufficient variability to make it difficult to show a direct ane­
ta-one relationship for any individual animal. Clearly enough, 
there are other factors in the presence of atypical growth re­
sponsible for the variability. To carry out an experiment it is necessary to control conditions 
of food, water, and temperature. A few preliminary experiments 
indicated that the individual variability could be reduced sig­
nificantly. All the evidence so far collected makes it necessary to 
study them under more controlled laboratory conditions. Through the generous cooperation of Dr. H. S. N. Greene, 
some three hundred mice were intensively studied following 
the implantation in the breast region of the C38 strain of mice. The implantations were made by Dr. Greene in the right axilla. They were from malignant tissue labelled 4578B-PXB-PX and 
MTH. In addition, foetal and visceral implants were made from 
normal animals. Measurements were made between the right axilla and the left 
axilla in unanaesthetized mice. The common reference point for 
the potential differences between the axillae was the placement of 
an electrode in the mouth of the animal. Since the left side of 
the animal was not involved in implantation, it served to some 
extent as a control for the operated side. The results of the experiment were surprisingly consistent. 59 THE FEMALE FIEL D 
Twenty-four to twenty-eight hours after the implantation 
changes were to be observed in the voltage gradients. This differ­
ence increased steadily and quite smoothly to reach a maximum 
of approximately five millivolts on or about the eleventh day, 
following which it decreased. In the animals with the foetal implant representing, therefore, 
a rapidly growing mass of embryonic tissue, the difference began 
to appear a little later, and reached a peak on approximately the 
sixth day, following which the potential difference dropped to 
zero and reversed its polarity until the end of the experiment. In the slow-growing tumours potential differences began to 
emerge on the third or fourth day but reached their maximum 
of approximately three millivolts on the tenth or eleventh day. From there, until the end of the experiment, the differences in 
potential fell steadily to zero. The control, and those without 
growth, showed a variable between the two sides of less than a 
millivolt for the entire experiment. In all of these measurements, 
the axilla containing the implanted foreign material was negative 
to the opposite axillary region. It is cIear from these findings that the crest of atypical growth 
in the host organism produced measurable and reproducible 
electro-metric correlates. The rapidly growing tumours devel­
oped higher potentials more quickly than the slow-growing im­
plant. The foetal tissue started off rather promptly but early 
reached an electro-metric peak and thereafter declined to zero, 
subsequen tly to appear as a polar reversal which, in turn, re­
turned to zero. The slow-growing implants started late but ex­
hibited an electro-metric curve paralleling the essential slope 
of the rapidly growing tumours, but reached their lower maxi­
mum at approximately the same time as the rapidly growing 
tumours. These experiments on mice, of course, offered valuable con­
firmation of our findings that atypical voltage-gradients in the 
fields of women are associated with malignancy. 60 CH APTER FOUR 
The Ubiquitous Field 
1 
While we were carrying out experiments on men and women we 
were also exploring the electro-dynamic fields in other forms of 
life because we wanted to assure ourselves that these fields are 
a universal property of all living forms and are not confined to the 
higher forms of life. We explored the fields of a frog's eggs-as mentioned in the 
first chapter-not only to satisfy ourselves that something so 
small and relatively simple possessed a field but also to find sup­
port for our theory that the field controls the growth and de­
velopment of the form. Using micro-pipettes filled with salt solution and connected to 
the voltmeter we found different voltage gradients across differ­
ent axes of the eggs. We marked the axis of the largest voltage 
gradient with spots of Nile blue sulphate and later found, as the 
eggs developed, that the frog's nervous system always grew along 
the axis with the highest voltage gradient. This was an indication 
that the field is primary-the matrix that shapes the living form. Next we looked for a living system with some unquestioned 
design or pattern, the field of which could be examined through 
growth and developm ent. The nervous system of a vertebrate 
offers a pattern which can be analysed and which, we hoped, 
would yield some clues to the nature of the forces or laws which 
determine the pattern. Our choice fell on salamanders for our experimental animals 
because they are easily obtained and can be observed from the 
egg stage up to adult form; and the changes in the form as it 
grows and develops can be observed and described with great 
accuracy. 61 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
Amphibia, too, are admirably suited to the experimental 
analysis of the growth and development of the nervous system. They are vertebrates and, therefore, have a head and tail axis, 
a bilateral symmetry, a right side and a left side, a dorsal and 
ventral side. This is the most elementary aspect of the pattern 
of organization of the vertebrate nervous system. Moreover, by using microsurgical methods, it is possible to 
perform operations on the nervous system, to remove parts of 
it and to observe the consequences to its development. Pieces 
can be transplanted from one part of the nervous system to an­
other in order to examine the results. Finally, salamanders are easily raised in the laboratory, with 
no serious problems of care. No anaesthe tics are necessary and 
they are abundant in the spring of the year. We were reinforced in our choice of salamanders by the evid­
ence, slowly increasing over the years, that they possess certain 
electrical properties. We started with numerous experiments on the developing 
embryos of salamanders, because an analysis of the embryology 
of the nervous system promised data to support our Field Theory. In the first place, as the embryo is an aquatic animal, it was 
necessary to determine whether or not there were any significant 
electro-metrics of the embryo. Potential measurements were 
made, therefore, in the embryo from a point in the cephalic 
region, and another in the caudal region. These were studied over 
periods of time and showed characteristic changes with the 
growth and differentiating of the embryo itself. It soon became clear that there is an electro-metric correlate of 
the longitudinal axis of the salamander nervous system. There 
is also a bilateral symmetry between the right side and the left 
side of the axis, as might be expected from everything else we 
know about the developing organism. To run down this problem a little further, measurements were 
made of the unfertilized egg of a salamander, using the animal 
62 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
pole as a reference point, and a moving electrode around the 
equator of the egg in the four quadrants of the development. It is 
well known, of course, that the salamander egg at this stage is a 
sphere, showing little or no differentiation grossly except the 
difference between the animal and vegital pole. But there is no 
differentiation, so far as can be observed, in the quadrants of 
the sphere. Measurements were made, therefore, in the unfertil­
ized egg between the north, or animal pole, and four points on 
the equator. It was found from these measurements that there was one point 
on the equator which showed a marked increase in the voltage 
drop between the reference electrode and the point. The latter 
was marked with a spot of Nile blue sulphate so that it could be 
followed through the subsequent period of development. It was 
found-as our theory had suggested-that the point on the 
equator which marked the greatest voltage drop from the animal 
pole marked the head end of the developing salamander. A longitudinal axis of the developing nervous system was then 
established in the unfertilized egg. This maintained itself 
throughout the succeeding growth period and, surprisingly 
enough, there was no significant change in the electro-metrics of 
the unfertilized egg after fert ilization. This is astonishing, because fertilization is supposed to be a 
critical point in development. But apparently-in the sala­
mander, at least-the electric field properties of the egg are 
established quite independently not only of the fact of fertiliza­
tion but also of the plane of ingress of the sperm head into the 
egg. This suggests, at once, that the design of the living embryo 
is an electro-metric correlate which can be recorded objectively 
during the process of growth and development and turns out to 
be one of the constant factors during this whole process of 
developme nt. One of the strange things about developmrnt that has always 
been known is the extraordinary constancy in which the direc­
tion of development moves. As a distinguished friend of mine 
once said, 'The growth and developm ent of an embryo would 
seem to be the result of the fact that some kind of a factor sits 
on the embryo during its �ntire development and gives direction 
63 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
to it. ' From the evidence at hand, up to date, it would seem 
fairly obvious that the one constant factor in growth and develop­
ment-which include not only the increase in the numbers of 
cells, but also their differentia tion-is the field of the organism. All these measurement s were made using silver-silver chloride 
electrodes immersed in micropipettes and connected to the high 
input impedance of a suitable amplifier with a galvanometer or 
a recording galvanometer in the output. At the suggestion of 
one of my early colleagues, Dr. Leslie F. Nims, now at Brook­
haven Laboratories, on Long Island, it was noticed that as the 
micropipette electrodes were pulled away from the surface of the 
embryo, a voltage gradient could still be recorded. In fact, drop­
off of voltage gradient carried on as far as one or one and a half 
millimetres from the embryo. This is truly extraordinary, for it makes it clear that the field 
properties of the embryo radiate through the medium of the 
liquid environment in which the embryo lives. Now this could occur only if the source of these potential 
gradients was the result of field activity. As a matter of fact, if 
one stops to think about it, if one puts a battery of any kind in a 
conducting medium, the battery very soon is exhausted, since 
the external medium acts as a low resistance shunt across the 
positive and negative poles of the battery. But in the embryo, 
although we have the same kind of voltage gradient as is present 
in the battery-at least so far as the measurable characteristics 
are concerned-nevertheless the field properties of the embryo 
do not short out in the liquid. These experiment s led to a further analysis of the field proper­
ties. It was suggested that if an embryo were rotated mechanic­
ally underneath two micropipette electrodes, there should be a 
constant rise and fall in voltage gradient as the head and tail axis 
of the embryo passed underneath the micropipette electrode. This experiment was set up with a mechanic ally revolving stage 
on which was placed a half-grown salamander embryo and the 
recorded output of the high input impedance amplifier trans­
mitted to a G-E photoelectric recording galvanometer. The result was extraordinary, for there was a sine wave out­
put from the revolving embryo, the frequenc y of which, of 
64 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
course, was a function of the speed with which the embryo 
revolved. Moreover, it was clear that the field axis was a constant 
to the whole procedure and resulted in a very interesting sine 
wave output from the embryo itself. This meant, too, that the 
micropipette electrodes were recording voltage gradients well 
away from the embryo itself. As a control, an inert glass rod was revolved under the same 
experimental conditions and produced a straight line on the 
recording galvanometer. To make a further check, a 'robot' was 
made of a piece of copper rod with a blob of solder at one end. Such a rod, under normal conditions, prod uces a voltage gradient, 
because of the bi-metallic components. This also was revolved in 
the same way as the embryo and produced the same kind of sine 
wave, the only difference being that, in time, the bi-metallic 
chemical voltage gradient decreased. Similar experiments were made with a full-grown salamander 
floated in a circular dish of salt solution in which, at opposite 
ends of a diameter, were immersed the electrodes, connected to a 
recording galvanometer. The dish was then slowly rotated and, since the salamander 
possessed a field with a positive and negative pole, it acted like 
the armature of an electrical generator. In consequence, as it 
rotated between the electrodes, it set up a tiny alternating 
cnrrent of very low frequency, which was recorded as a true sine 
wave. One day, perhaps, some enterprising experimenter will float a 
man or a woman in a rotating swimming-pool to demonstrate 
that there really is such a thing as a 'human dynamo'. But the 
author's laboratory offered neither space nor facilities for such 
an experiment. 3 
The experiments described above made it clear that, using proper 
electro-m etric techniques, recorded voltage gradients without 
current drain from the system measured are a valid expression 
of the basic, primary electro-dynamic field. Since the experiments 
65 THE UBI QU ITOUS FIELD 
also indicated that direct contact with the living organism was 
not necessary to measure a volt-age gradient, a rigorously-con­
trolled experiment was set up, using the sciatic nerve of a frog, 
with the help of another colieague, Dr. Alexander Mauro, now 
at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. This experiment was 
designed to explore the field properties of a small part of a living 
system. The beaut ifully-precise formulation by Lorente de N6 of fields 
in an infinite-volume conductor accompanying the neural im­
pulse, travelling along the sciatic nerve of the frog, demanded 
that a search be made for experimental evidence of the existence 
of a quasi-elec trostatic field in the air surrounding a nerve 
trunk. A preliminary report of such a study is here presented. The 
existence of an electro-static field has been demonstrated. How­
ever, an analysis of the nature of this field is far from complete 
and much further study will be required. By an ingenious technique developed by Dr. Mauro, the re­
sults of the activity of the sciatic nerve of the frog were studied, 
using a thousand-megohm input-impedance preamplifier, fol­
lowed by suitable amplifiers with an output to a cathode-ray tube. It was possible to study the transmission of a single stimulus 
throughout the substance of the segment of the nerve under 
study, not only when the electrcdes were in direct contact, but 
also when they were at a measurable distance outside the nerve. The evidence resulting from these experiments gives further 
enlightenment as to the nature of the field irrliving systems. It is 
becoming increasingly clear that these fields are in fact quasi­
electro-static fields. Originally, the term 'electro-dyn amic field' 
was used to describe, in the most general way, the nature of the 
fields in living organisms, but it is now possible to give a more pre­
cise definition. Measurement of such fields indicates that forces 
exist not only in but also otltside of the nerve dmill g exci tatio n. Thus, to the study of steady state parameters of these fields 
that have been recorded in amphibia and-as we shall see­
plants, must be added these records of the changing properties 
of electrical fields in association with biologic activity. To be sure, 
the EEG and the EKG are instances of the same phenomenon 
66 THE UBIQUIT OUS FIEL D 
and in a sense the observations recorded here are no more than 
might be expected. All of them are the direct consequenc es of 
field properties of living systems. None of this implies that the field is conceived of as some 
mysterious property of living things. It is not another name for 
elan vital or entelechy. It is a definable concept capable of pre­
cise measurement and is to be thought of in the same terms as 
fields in the non-living Universe. Electric fields in physics are not only widely accepted, but 
technologie s based upon them have been extraordinarily pro­
ductive. In non-living matter, fields are definable in terms of 
forces between charges. They are, in part, a measure of the re­
lationships between entities. In living systems, therefore, since 
the entities of which they are composed are the same entities as 
are to be found in non-living matter, the same forces between 
the units may be presumed. The basic difference between the two 
lies in the enormously increased complexity of the necessary re­
latednesses in living organisms. It would seem reasonable to assume, therefore, that the rela­
tionship of entities in living organisms may be measured by field 
properties just as successfully as in atoms or between atoms. It should be noted that the electro-static fields do not exist 
in the absence of charges nor charges in the absence of fields. They are both fundamental properties of matter. In living 
organisms it can be said that chemical components, wherever they 
possess charges, cannot exist without fields nor can fields be 
found except in the presence of charges. It is equally dear that the business of living is not a static 
affair; it is a moving, dynamic process. For this energy is required 
and it is the chemistry of biological systems which provides it. But energy is a scalar property and is. itself, indifferent to the 
direction in which it flows. In general, it is the second law of 
thermodynamics which directs the flow in such a manner as to 
increase the entropy of the system. It seems from our observations that this direction is also 
characterized by electrical gradien ts, much as though the second 
law was augmented by electrical signposts. Moreover, these 
electrical signs have an astonishing constancy in spite of the 
67 THE UBI QU ITOUS FIELD 
enormously complex chemical flux. Such constancy of directional 
control, in fact, is one of the s triking attributes of the developing 
organism. Quas i-electro- static fields, although changing slowly, 
persist in time and can, perhaps to some approximation, be con­
ceived as providing the necessary direction. The experiments reported by us in collaboration with Dr. Mauro provide additional evidence of the validity of the original 
assumption. 4 
Pursuing our exploration of fields in widely-differen t living 
forms, we made a study of the voltage-gradients in the marine 
animal, Obelia, a polyp. These experiments were carried out 
through the courtesy of the late Dr. F.
The silver chloride electrode is more reproducible and can be used in the same solution as the living system, avoiding liquid junction potentials.
What is the advantage of using silver chloride electrodes in physiological solutions?
The experiment aimed to study the electrical properties of the ovarian tissue and confirm the findings in humans.
What is the purpose of the experiment involving a rabbit and a salt-filled chamber?
The study explores the electro-metric correlates of the growth and development of salamanders, as well as the electro-metric properties of the embryo.
What is the main focus of the study on salamanders?
The study aims to investigate the relationship between the electrical patterns and the morphological pattern of the fruit development, which is crucial for understanding plant morphogenesis.
What is the significance of the study on cucurbit fruits?
The experiment is designed to explore the electro-metric correlates of the growth and development of the nervous system, which is essential for understanding the growth and development of the organism.
What is the purpose of the experiment on mice?