The Dynamic Dynelectron

March 4th, 2021 1 Minutes

#2215.0635 ca. 1900: Dynelectron Machine Model F – Image courtesy of the Columbia Basin Institute

What is this puzzling machine, you ask? No, it isn’t an old turntable system; this is a Dynelectron Machine. The device is part of the Columbia Basin Institute’s F.W. Green Clinic collection, and Dr. Green used it in his practice.

James H. Reid, a man from Newark, N.J., invented the Dynelectron in the early 1900s. He accomplished many great things in the electrical field and was even an assistant to Thomas Edison. Reid worked alongside three physicians on the development of the Dynelectron, and after several years of intensive research and experimentation, the group perfected the electrical wonder.

The Dynelectron treated various physical ailments and was believed to bring a considerable profit to the doctors who were using it. It had a vacuum and a vibrasage option that drew out boils, treated skin conditions, nervous disorders, and alleviated sciatica.

Dilation and vibration were used to treat chronic constipation, vaginal stricture, and spasms. Diathermy was used to treat joint and muscle conditions, arthritis. It was introduced to surgeons to cauterize blood vessels. Electro-coagulation with frequency as high as one million alternations per second removed foreign growths and warts. These were just a few of its many uses.

The Dynelectron and its workings, so mysterious to the general public, are only truly understood by electrical engineers. Technically speaking, it is a machine that makes possible the use of raw electrical energy and the production of unlimited quantities of three primary elements that make up the Dynelectron Machine – heat, water, and air.