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Monday, February 1, 2021

Misuses of Electricity in the 19 Century

In 1878, electric shock was used as a substitute for floggings in the Ohio State Penitentiary, where prisoners were forced to sit naked in three inches of water while currant ran through it. At the same time that electricity was being used to punish, it was also touted as a cure-all. Galvanic belts, electrical corsets, magnetic healing, and dozens of electro-therapeutic devices, were patented and sold as cures for everything from toothache to cancer.

Th. Metzger, Blood & Volts, 1996

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