Faradic Battery

A Faradic Battery (or Faradic Stimulator, or Galvanic Battery) was a device used in 19th Century and early 20th Century medicine. The name of the device is associated both with Michael Faraday and Luigi Galvani. It was designed to create a mild electric shock that was thought to be therapeutic, to assist with ailments around nerve sensitivity within muscles and bones. Many machines were portable such as the device pictured here, for use at a doctor's office or at home. Allegedly of little actual benefit and providing more of a placebo effect.