Electrotherapeutic Apparatus, Boyd's Battery; Electrotherapeutic Apparatus; Battery, Boyd's; Medicine
Date made:
ca. 1880
Patent date:
1878-01-17
Description:
The “BOYD’S BATTERY” inscription on this small gizmo refers to a widely advertised personal wellness device introduced in the late 1870s. A reporter who visited J. C. Boyd’s laboratory in New York City mentioned “a secret method of amalgamating the metals used, which is the great reason of the powerful action of the battery upon the body, and this secret is known only to Prof. Boyd and some of his staff.” Boyd’s battery was allegedly patented on January 17, 1878, but the U.S. Patent Office did not issue patents on that date.
Ref: “Electricity as a Curative Agent,” ad in The United States Official Postal Guide (Jan. 1881), p. 37.
J. C. Boyd, Boyd’s Miniature Galvanic Battery ().
The Blood is the Life. Nearly all Diseases Effectually Cured by Boyd's Miniature Galvanic Battery! (1880).