Davis & Kidder medical magneto machine
date: label: date made
content: ca 1858
name: label: maker
content: W. H. Burnap
label: maker
content: Davis & Kidder
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Davis & Kidder medical magneto machine. Wooden box with brass corners and ivory handle. A vertically-mounted horseshoe magnet with two electromagnet coils set next to the magnet ends. A geared mechanism connected to the coils is actuated by a crank that extends through the front of the box. An ivory handle is mounted on the crank. One pin is enclosed in the box.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Ari Davis (ca. 1811-1855) was a skilled American craftsman who received two patents in 1854. One (#10,788 of April 18) described a machine for producing wooden boxes with metal-reinforced dovetail corners. The other (#11,415 of August 1) described a magneto-electric machine. While this second patent was still in process, Davis sold the rights to both patents to Walter Kidder, a physician in Lowell, Massachusetts, allegedly for $4000. Advertisements for DAVIS’ (later DAVIS & KIDDER’S) PATENT MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINE, FOR NERVOUS DISEASES were soon to be seen. By 1857, the business was in the hands of William H. Burnap (b. 1825), also of Lowell. In his book, The Improved Magneto-Electric Machine for Nervous Diseases (Lowell?, 1857), Burnap claimed that the improved Davis & Kidder machine was “widely known as the best article in use, with ten thousand units having been sold in 1856.” As there were counterfeit machines on the market, buyers should observe “that all genuine machines are enclosed in a brass-cornered (patent also) box.”
label: Description (Brief)
content: The paper label inside the lid is marked “DAVIS & KIDDER’S / PATENT MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINE / FOR NERVOUS DISEASES / Endorsed / and used by the / Leading Physicians / throughout the / United States / and Europe. / W. H. Burnap, / Manufacturer / --and-- / Sole Proprietor, / New York, / U.S.A. / Directions. -- Connect two Metallic Cords or wires with the Socket in the ends of the box, and apply / the handles connected with the other ends of the metallic cords or wires to any part of the person through which / it is desirable to pass the current of Electricity. Then turn the Crank, regulating the strength of the current / by the speed, and by the knob at the end of the Box: it being desirable to increase the strength only to that de- / gree most agreeable to the patient. It is less unpleasant to the patient if wet sponges are placed over the ends / of the Handles, and these applied to the skin, as they prevent the prickling sensation. The sponges should / never be put inside of the Box while wet, as they rust the machinery. In applying it for the Toothache, Tic / Doloreau, or Neuralgia, the operator takes one Handle and places his fingers or sponge over the part affected, / while the patient holds the other handle. In applying it to the foot, place one of the Handles in the water / with the foot, and hold the other in the hand, or apply it to any other part of the person. The Bearings / Spring must be oiled occasionally."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from the National Park Service, Harpers Ferry, WV
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ZZ.RSN80797U05
label: collector/donor number
content: 2583x
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Magneto Electric Machine
label: Object Name
content: magneto generator
label: Other Terms
content: Magneto Electric Machine; Electromagnetic Devices; Magnetic Devices; Electromagnetic Devices
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/2 in x 10 in x 6 1/4 in; 11.43 cm x 25.4 cm x 15.875 cm