Violet ray
Encyclopedia
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of...
. They use a combination disruptive discharge coil construction with an interrupter to apply a high voltage, high frequency, and low current to the human body for therapeutic purposes
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of...
. They use a combination disruptive discharge coil construction with an interrupter to apply a high voltage, high frequency, and low current to the human body for therapeutic purposes
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of...
. They use a combination disruptive discharge coil construction with an interrupter to apply a high voltage, high frequency, and low current to the human body for therapeutic purposes. Their basic construction was invented by Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
prior to 1900, who introduced their first prototypes at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in 1893. 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when they began manufacturing radio coils or other electrical components for the war instead.
A typical violet ray device consisted of an ungrounded electrical control box that controlled the interrupter and which 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 lumbago to carbuncles. From an antique Master Violet Ray manual c. 1920 comes this treatment advice:
Brain Fog - Use Applicator No. I over forehead and eyes. Also treat the back of head and neck with strong current in direct contact with the skin. Treat the spine and hold the electrode in the hand. Ozone inhalations for about four minutes are also of importance.
For catarrh
Catarrh
Catarrh is a disorder of inflammation of the mucous membranes in one of the airways or cavities of the body. It can result in a thick exudate of mucus and white blood cells caused by the swelling of the mucous membranes in the head in response to an infection...
, this treatment was directed: Catarrh, Nasal - In this condition the Nasal Tube is used within the nose with a mild current within the nasal passage, two to five minutes on each side, followed by an application with the Surface Electrode externally over the area of the nose. Use Ozone Generator.
Legal Actions
During the 1940's and 1950's, 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.The last manufacturer of violet ray 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. While their manufacture was prohibited in the US by case law, violet ray devices are still manufactured by companies outside of the US and are still widely used in Europe.
Other Uses
The violet ray was recommended by Edgar CayceEdgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce was an American psychic who allegedly had the ability to give answers to questions on subjects such as healing or Atlantis while in a hypnotic trance...
, who was considered by many to be the father of holistic medicine, in some 200 of his readings. Violet ray electrotherapy
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of...
proponents point to its oxygenation and stimulation properties as therapeutic. A related device called a High Frequency aesthetic machine is currently used in beauty salons today for its ability to oxygenate the skin when it is used, but their use is restricted to licensed aestheticians in all states of the US.
Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
detectives working under Jon Burge
Jon Burge
Jon Graham Burge is a convicted felon and former Chicago Police Department detective and commander who gained notoriety for allegedly torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991, in order to force confessions...
are alleged to have used a violet ray to torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
suspects in the 1970s and 1980s.
As antiques, violet rays can be popular medical and historical collectibles. A related modern device, known as a violet wand
Violet wand
Violet wands are modern electrical sexual or kink stimulation toys. They are used for the application of low current, high voltage , high-frequency, electricity to the body...
, is used by some as a sexual stimulation device.