Guaranteed conception in an optimal position and ecstasy unattainable in other conditions - this is how a British doctor advertised his fertility support method, in which the key element was to be ... an electric bed!
The 18th century must have been a magical time for inventors and scientists. Humanity knew electricity well enough to generate voltage and pass electrons flux through ... Exactly - electricity was passed through everything, including various parts of the body. It's easy to guess that the genitals have finally fallen victim to the latest fashion as well.
Current Age
The term "electricity" was coined as early as in the 1600s by William Gilbert - an English scientist dealing mainly with the phenomena of static voltage and magnetism. The word has roots in Greek, it comes from amber (electron) due to the easily observable properties of the precious stone related to electricity.
Electric sparks, catching lightning, and attempts to use invisible force have captured the minds of scientists. The pioneers of dangerous electron experiments have worked for over a hundred years so that their successors can start their joyful games. Stephen Gray noticed and described the phenomenon of conductivity, induction and accumulation of charges, Charles François de Cisternay du Fay discovered the existence of positive and negative charges, and distinguished between conductors and insulators. Benjamin Franklin proved through his famous kite experiment that lightning is in fact a discharge of electrical voltage and developed an effective lightning conductor.
At the same time, thanks to the knowledge that is still being discovered, the world is full of "electric showmen" presenting newer and newer ways to play with the flow. The injured volunteers were jumping up, the ropes of the soldiers holding hands started to dance uncontrollably, and it was impossible to kiss women wearing glass slippers because she was firing lightning ...
Johann Ritter electrocuted himself to all parts of the body in turn. He didn't even let go of the genitals…
There were also examples of recklessness among scientists. People like Johann Ritter with persistent systematic shock deliberately shocked each other in order to better understand its properties. The German physicist started by shocking his entire body, and then gradually moved to smaller and smaller parts. He even shocked his own eyes, ears, tongue and nose, scrupulously noting the results obtained. What? Fragrances, colors, flavors.
He quite rightly concluded that these sensations must be transmitted inside the body by electrical signals. He also did not let go of the sexual organs - his own and his wife. Unfortunately, he didn't take his research very far:he died at the age of 33. It is possible that as a result of one of the experiments ...
Voltage not only electric
Did James Graham know about the results of Ritter's experiments? Perhaps, although given the difficult nature of the German's publication, the London sexologist could have drawn inspiration from other sources. But what seems to be more important - his idea of electricity at the root of sex for a time captured the minds of Londoners ...
The (not entirely) learned and (not entirely) doctor of medicine came from Edinburgh, where he started his studies. However, he did not obtain the title, he left the university and moved to Doncaster, where he ran a pharmacy until 1770. Later, he made a ten-year journey through America, Europe and Asia, in 1780 to win the patroness - Lady Spencer, thanks to which he managed to raise funds for the creation of the first "temple of health".
Graham's lectures were diversified by the performances of the "Goddess of Health". Rumor had it that the role was played by young Emma Hamilton.
The treatment consisted of music therapy, the use of pneumatic chemistry, electricity and magnetism. Graham also published a marriage guide. His lectures on modern medicine (the "electric ether" or the "nervous etheric balm" he sold) were interspersed with performances by the "Goddess of Health." Rumor had it that the role was played by young Emma Hamilton, the heroine of numerous paintings by George Romney.
Overall, Graham was a quack for his time - a fake doctor, colloquially referred to by the British as "quack" (the word comes from a medieval phrase meaning scream - the best marketing tool of the early cheaters).
"Be fruitful and multiply"
Graham has gained a lot of popularity thanks to his electric spa. So he decided to expand his business by constructing his opus magnum :"Heavenly bed". The device was at the very center of the temple, surrounded by rooms containing "healing devices" that crackled with sparks and emitted "rays of heavenly fire."
The bed itself was huge - 3.5 meters long and over 2.5 meters wide. A mirror was mounted on the ceiling, and the entire frame of the structure was movable. What for? Graham convinced his customers that his wonderful bed guarantees conception through the miraculous effect of electricity and placing the copulating pair in the optimal position.
The atmosphere of the tryst in Graham's clinic was also very important. Everything was accompanied by organ music coming from the instrument driven by the movements of cooperating partners, as well as the scent of spices and flowers. Above the bed was the words "Be fruitful and multiply to populate the earth" surrounded by crackling electric sparks. Graham also managed to fit a pair of live pigeons to symbolize fertility in all of this.
The false sexologist advertised the invention as an absolute guarantee of conception and the highest ecstasy. The arguments sounded very logical. As he explained:
Even the venereal act itself is essentially nothing more than an electrical action! […] there is the necessary friction or excitement of the animal's electric tube or cylinder in order to accumulate or build up the soothing fire of life! This is what electricians call charging the vital jug. This is followed by the discharge or transfer of this soothing, luminous, active ingredient from the positive male to the negative female .
A night in Graham's bed cost about what the average person earned in London for an entire year. No wonder then that the whole business soon collapsed. As early as 1781, the inspired inventor had to close the first of the two open temples, and by 1784 he sold most of his equipment. He returned to Edinburgh where he showed the few remnants on South Bridge Street. It was then that his mental health problems began. Periodically under house arrest, he began to experiment with longer and longer fasts. He died in 1794 in his own home.
Bibliography:
- Dolnick, E., New Life . Znak Horyzont, Krakow, 2019.
- Hall, L., Porter, R., The Facts of Life:The Creation of Sexual Knowledge in Britain, 1650-1950 . Yale University Press, 1995.
- Jameson, E., James Graham Masterquack. In The Natural History of Quackery . Charles C. Thomas Publisher. pp. 112-132, 1961.