Show sample as: 72-frame QuickTime VR or 360-frame QuickTime movie loop.
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3D3DAntique Violet Ray Machine.
This device, which dates from the 1930's or thereabouts, is basically a lot like one of those novelty plasma ball toys. Modern plasma balls use a high-voltage, high-frequency transformer to create an electric discharge through a mixture of gases in a glass ball. They are purely for entertainment.
This device uses a coil and interrupter to generate the high voltage, and probably contains ordinary air at reduced pressure. It was designed to cure pretty much any disease. This manual is, basically, nonsense, with the possible exception of the treatment of some skin conditions through the antibacterial effects of ozone, which the thing does generate under the right conditions.
Why do I have this machine as an element sample under argon? Because I originally thought, based on reading incorrect reports, that these things were typically filled with argon. In retrospect this is implausible, because all the noble gases were expensive in those days, and would never have been used when plain air works just as well.
Source: eBay seller cacheofcoins
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 10 March, 2007
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: $67
Size: 12"
Purity: 0%
Sample Group: Medical
Argon