Designed by the Paris instrument maker Paul Gustave Froment (1815-1865), this is one of the many electrical devices for use in medicine which, in the second half of the 19th century, were used to treat certain diseases of the nerves and local paralyses with electric shocks.
It consists of two Ruhmkorff coils wound, one on one arm and one on the other arm, of the same soft-iron core in the shape of a U, with the primaries in series and the secondary circuits in series as well. The base of the U-shaped iron core is attached vertically to the rectangular wooden platform (18 x 11.5 cm) of the device by means of a brass staff.
Of the four vertical brass wire clamps on the platform, the two larger ones are for connection of the primaries to the power source and the other two, which are connected to the outlet of the two secondary circuits, are for connecting the electrodes (missing) to be applied to the patient's body to the instrument. ...continues