'Oxypathor', oxygen absorption machine, Canada, 1911-1915

Made:
1910-1920 in Ontario
"Oxypathor" "Oxypathor"

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

"Oxypathor"
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

"Oxypathor"
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

"Oxypathor", a quack device for increasing the body's absorbtion of oxygen, Canadian, 1910-1920

The Oxypathor was a ‘quack’ device designed by E. L. Moses of Buffalo United States. It allowed the body to absorb extra oxygen via a cord attached to the wrist and ankle. Attached to this cord and placed in a bowl of water was a sealed metal cylinder containing sand or carbon, or sometimes nothing. The all-curing device supposedly helped conditions such as diphtheria, blood disorders, catarrh, kidney trouble, heart trouble, gallstones, blood poisoning, pneumonia, typhoid fever and ‘most forms of paralysis.’ The American Post Office Department won a criminal fraud case against Moses in 1915. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail for promoting quack devices.

Details

Category:
Therapeutics
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A625572
Materials:
instrument, nickel plated, instrument, cloth, instrument, string, case, aluminium, case, cork, box, paper and box, metal
Measurements:
overall: 224 mm x 105 mm x 86 mm, .922kg
type:
oxygen absorption machine
credit:
Wadsworth, F