The use of electricity was unregulated in the early 20th century, an oversight that led to the introduction of a number of rather bizarre medical devices. This is the electric helmet by Energo of Turin, Italy, and the faradic battery was by S. Maw Son & Thompson, London.
Chapter 12. Quack Medicine
"The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow..."
— William Osler, MD
Chauvinism in Medicine, 1902
Topics covered in this chapter include:
- Quacks Become Legit — Perkins Tractors
- Phrenology
- Healing and the Elements
- Water Therapy
- Vibration and Massage Therapy
- Dr. Mesmer and his Magnets
- Electricity
- King of the Quacks
- Ruth Drown: A Queen Ascends the Throne
- Radioactivity
- The Sanitarium
- Victorian Prohibitions
- John Brinkley: The Goat Gland Doctor
- Miscellaneous Therapies
- The Future?