Electrical Enthusiasm

Legitimate scientists can unintentionally contribute to questionable medical beliefs. Speculating how one device might treat numerous unrelated ailments is a warning sign of pseudoscientific thinking.

Notice the far-reaching claims made below in an 1884 article from Scientific American, the nation's leading scientific and technical journal at the time. During the early 1900s, many manufacturers reiterated such claims when promoting fradulent electrical remedies.

Electric Hair and Flesh Brush

Scientific American, November 15, 1884, p. 306.

Upon the back of the brush, shown in the engraving, are placed a small battery and an induction coil. The ebonite cell is held between contact springs at each end, and is provided with a screw plug which is inserted in one end when the battery is not in use: but when in operation this is replaced by a plug carrying a bar of zinc. The current of electricity generated by the battery—the exciting fluid of which is bisulphate of mercury—is led to the induction coil, where the strength may be diminished or increased by a tube that slides in and out of the coil. One wire from the coil leads to a metal plate attached to the back of the handle, and the other leads to a plate in contact with bristles, which are made of suitable conducting material. When the brush is grasped in the hand, the current passes through the body to the point which is in contact with the bristles.

The many applications of the brush will be readily perceived; it may be used as a hair brush to relieve neuralgia, headache, and diseases of the scalp, and it may be applied to the body to alleviate suffering caused by rheumatism, paralysis, gout, etc. As it is an electrical brush in fact as well as in name, it is applicable in all cases in which the ordinary medical battery is found servicable.

Full particulars and catalogues may be obtained by addressing the Harbach Electric Department, 809 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, Pa.