Type 2

Box A Hand Generator type

Approximate size of box  9 inches wide by 4½ inches deep by 4½ inches high. There is an instruction label - but no manufactures name

This box of tricks is a lovely piece of work , and it is beautifully made. The value of this type of historical medical equipment is quite a bit higher than the battery operated devices I have previously described .

This one I found at a local car boot sale and was priced at  £120 which I thought was excessive, but it was the first one of this type I had seen, and because of the novelty and antique worth of it I really couldn’t leave it  -  except for about half an hour, while I was doing the usual  thinking about it, pretending not to be interested, and wandering round the other stalls .

I don’t think the seller was fooled for a single minute though , and after some earnest haggling we agreed on £60 which was still a lot of money, but I think I must have been the only interest he had. I did buy a couple of bits other electrical bits from his stall as well and he was glad to trade - luckily !

Technically you turn a handle that rotates two coils in front of a magnet to generate the output ‘shock’ As previously mentioned a contact breaker is fitted on the shaft which shorts the output and then opens and the inductance of the coils gives a high voltage ‘kick’.

Of course the faster you turn the greater the frequency, -  and the shock . To control the output there is a ‘keep’ on the magnet that can be moved on or off by means of a rod protruding from the side of the box, to suit what the patient can stand !