Rare Cylinder-Type Electrostatic Machine, attributed to Edward Nairne (1726-1806), England, Circa 1785

This scientific apparatus was used to generate static electricity.  Otto von Guericke in Germany was the first to design in 1663 an efficient way of generating static electric charges. This machine, made about 1785, has a hand-cranked cylinder and a leather pad with silk cloth to mounted on one side. The mount is adjustable by means of the wooden screw set in the base. A prime conductor would be mounted opposite the rubbing pad but is missing from this unit. During the 1750s electrical researchers refined the design of electrostatic machines by replacing earlier spherical globes with a glass cylinder, a design used for many years. This change increased the surface area of the glass in contact with the rubbing pad and improved the efficiency of the generator. There is no extant maker's mark on the machine although it is of the type designed by the English scientific instrument maker Edward Nairne (1726-1806). The device can supply either positive or negative electricity, and was intended for medicinal use. The instruction manual for his devices claimed that "electricity is almost a specific in some disorders, and deserves to be held in the highest estimation for its efficacy in many others" and its use was recommended for nervous disorders, bruises, burns, scales, bloodshot eyes, toothache, sciatica, epilepsy, hysteria, etc. A very closely related instrument is in the collection of the Smithsonian (acc. no. 249201).