Doctor - Old fashioned influence - 1905-45 Notebook

Colourized photo from 1905-1945 Original Title: Providence Hospital, Interior Location: 86 Weybosset Street, Providence, RI It amazes me how people even survived a 100 years ago. See that machine on the right? Its not a piano despite how it looks. That machine is called a Wimshurst Influence Machine. Using a crank wheel, it spins two discs in opposite to each other. This creates a large amount of static electricity. Enough that it can send a spark with a gap a span of 6" or more depending on the size of the machine. This device would shock the patient into getting better. It was designed to help with rheumatism, arthritis, and other medical conditions, but if you ask me this guy had a little too much of that machine. In the way early days they used it to power that X-ray/Fluoroscope bulb. On the back wall you'll see other probes they used to use. On the left there is a guy getting an X-Ray of his hand. This hospital uses electricity, something relatively new. They can power the bulb directly, they no longer need to rely on that other machine. Just a flip of the switch, a turn of the dial, and everyone in the room is radiated just like that.