John Wesley, electrical quack? how machine worked

This post is for all the electrical engineers, physiotherapists and psychiatrists who want to know how John's electrical machine worked.  The rest of you have my permission to skip today.

 

John's electrical machine
(Image used with permission of
The Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House) 

"It consists of a hollow glass cylinder (7 1/2 in. long by 4 1/2 in. diameter) supported on two wooden uprights.  Through it runs a metal bar to which a handle is attached, by means of which the cylinder can be freely rotated.  A leather pad (to which is firmly attached a piece of black silk) is pressed against the cylinder.  It is controlled, very simply, by a thumbscrew.  On an attached platform (8 in. long by 5 in. wide) and mounted on a glass insulating column, is a metal arm with a thin rod (9 1/2 in. long) attached to it, at the end of which is a small metal ball 1 in. diameter.  The whole Amachine [sic] is mounted on four glass insulating legs (4 1/2 in. in height)." (Woodward, M.W. "Wesley's Electrical Machine.  Nursing Mirror (1962): 114 (Suppl. 2978), 10, 16, p. x, quoted in Maloney, np.)

 

"Presumably the patient caught hold of the ball and as the metal arm made contact with the rotating cylinder, got a shock C [sic] the intensity depending upon the vigor with which the handle was turned.  It is important to note that this was a "friction machine["] which discharged electric current in one discharge and was not a "continuous current["] apparatus such as became possible after Allessandro Volta developed the first electric battery in 1799, eight years after Wesley's death.  Continuous current apparati are those used in electroconvulsive shock treatment.  This does not mean that it was impossible to administer harmful shocks with friction machines.  By storing up current in Leyden jars, which were available to Wesley, it was possible to vary the amount of shock administered.  Also, some machines had attached "wands["] with insulated handles, which could administer varying amounts of shock dependent on the distance the wand was held from the area of the body toward which it was directed.  Current could be built up by turning the handle.  More powerful shocks jumped greater distances." (Malony, np.).

 

In The Desideratum, John reviewed the known literature of the time, including that of the Frenchmen J.P. Marat (1743-1793).  "Marat distinguished among five methods, three of which Wesley might have used.  The first method, Marat termed l'electrisation par bains in which the patient would sit in an insulated chair and hold a conductor from the machine (e.g., the metal ball) while the handle was turned to generate current.  The body was thus bathed in the warmth of electricity.  The second method was a variation of the first and was labeled l'electrisation par impression de souffle.  In this method the conductor was placed on the affected body part, which then received a focused sensation of a gentle warm breeze.  The third method was termed par frictions.  This method did not use the machine but, instead, involved rubbing flannel which had been wrapped around the affected part with a metal plate attached to a glass handle.  The fourth method, par etincelles, drew sparks from the affected organ by attaching an uncharged metal wand to the affected body part which, in turn, was connected to a conductor from the machine.  The last method listed by Marat was called par commotions.  In this procedure a strong discharge was sent across the diseased body part.  Occasionally this method induced heart attacks, convulsions, blindness, and sometimes death.  This is the friction method most akin to later psychiatric electroconvulsive continuous-current shock treatment.  It was not used by Wesley." (Malony, np).

 

"[T]here were two basic processes involved in these treatments: attraction and repulsion.  It was assumed that the human body was a conductor of electricity and that it would attract current as well as repel it, if the body was attached to some other conductive material.  In general, it was theorized that where a body part was not functioning or was paralyzed, electricity was deficient and thus, attraction treatment was needed. ... On the other hand, it was theorized that where a body part was feverish or infected, electricity was excessive and thus, withdrawal treatment was needed." (Malony, np). 

 

In The Desideratum, John notes, "In order to prevent any ill Effect, these two cautions should always be remembered.  First, let not the Shock be too violent; rather let several small Shocks be given.  Secondly, do not give a Shock to the whole Body, when only a particular Part is affected.  If it be given to the Part affected only, little Harm can follow even from a violent Shock." (Wesley, Desideratum, 71-72, quoted in Malony, np.)