Violet ray
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A violet ray is an antique medical appliance used during the early 20th century to discharge in electrotherapy. Their construction usually featured a disruptive discharge coil with an interrupter to apply a high voltage, high frequency, low current to the human body for therapeutic purposes.<ref>Template:Cite patent.</ref>
OverviewEdit
Nikola Tesla introduced his first prototype violet ray at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.Template:Citation needed Most of the antique violet rays in the US were produced before the Depression era, and some of the larger US manufacturers of violet rays were Renulife, Fitzgerald, and Fisher. Companies who manufactured violet ray devices made many other types of electrical appliances as well, e.g. Star Electric, which also manufactured stock ticker machines. Many of the companies who were able to continue manufacturing violet rays after the Depression stopped making them due to World War II, when they began manufacturing radio coils and other electrical components for the war instead.Template:Fact
A typical violet ray device consisted of an ungrounded, electrical control box that controlled the interrupter and housed the magneto coil, and an attached bakelite or other handle housing which contained the high voltage coil and an insertion port for attachments. Glass, evacuated tubes of varying shapes and for different therapeutic uses could be inserted into the bakelite handle to apply the resulting current to different parts of the body.
Violet ray treatments were said to cure everything from lower back pain to carbuncles. From an antique Master Violet Ray manual c. 1920 comes this treatment advice: Template:Quote
For catarrh, this treatment was directed: Template:Quote
Legal actionsEdit
During the 1940s and 1950s, makers of violet ray devices were subjected to numerous lawsuits and multiple actions by the US government including recalls, seizures, forfeitures, and orders to have them destroyed.<ref>3505. Misbranding of Violetta kits. U. S. v. 21 Kits, etc. (F. D. C. No. 30942. Sample No. 25412-L.), Condemnation plus destruction.</ref><ref>2807. Misbranding of violet ray device. U. S. v. 13 Cases, etc (F. D. O. No. 26995. Released under bond to the F.S.A.</ref><ref>3458. Misbranding of violet ray device. U. S. v. 2 Cases * * *. (F. D. C. No. 30801. Sample No. 3858-L.) Surrendered to the FDA.</ref><ref>6932. Violet ray generator device. i( F.D.C. No. 45940. S. No. 20-531 R.) Seizure by the FDA.</ref><ref>4178. Misbranding of Master violet ray outfit. U. S. v. 14 Packages, etc. (F. D. C. No. 35294. Sample Nos. 50206-L, 50207-L.), surrendered to FDA.</ref><ref>981. Misbranding of R & R Ultra Violet Ray and Radiation Machine. U. S. v. August H. Riess (Lawndale Laboratories)</ref><ref>2850. Misbranding of ultraviolet ray devices. U. S. v. 16 Devices, etc (F. D. O. No. 26972. Sample No. 41216-K.)</ref>
The last manufacturer of violet ray electrotherapy devices in the US was Master Electric. The company was subjected to a 1951 lawsuit in Marion, Indiana, and the devices were seized by the FDA.<ref name=fdaseizure>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While their manufacture was prohibited in the US by case law, violet ray electrotherapy devices are still manufactured by companies outside of the US.Template:Citation needed
Other usesEdit
Jon Burge of the Chicago Police Department, who was dismissed in 1992 following allegations of torture of suspects by Burge and detectives working under him in the 1970s and 1980s, may have used a violet ray. The violet ray was suggested independently by two museum curators after they were given victims' descriptions of one of the several electrical devices used by Burge.<ref name = ChicagoReader>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
American clairvoyant Edgar Cayce advocated use of the violet ray in almost 900 of his readings.<ref>Hruska, E. "Violet Ray: A Handy Healing Device", Cayce.com, 2009.</ref>
Since the 1990s, under the name "violet wand", violet ray devices have more recently become popular as relatively safe electrical stimulation devices for erotic electrostimulation.<ref>The Violet Wand Store "Violet Wand History", 2008</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
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