Insanidad temporal

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Theresa had to fend for herself, and she managed quite admirably, hooking-up with, her husband’s political crony, Philip Barton Key, in the spring of 1858. The 39-year-old DA of DC was a widower with four children. He ran in the right circles and was a terrific storyteller, fabulous dancer, dedicated follower of fashion, and on top of that he was thought to be the handsomest man in town. Bart was also the nephew of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and son of Francis Scott Key. ¹

Dan was out of town with obliging frequency and the couple felt obliged to take advantage of the situation: They showed up at the same receptions and teas, attended the theater together and graced the capital’s various balls with their presence. All of that was interspersed with romantic carriage rides around town. As the relationship progressed Bart decided to rent a pied-a-terre in a neighborhood that, although shabby, had the benefit of being within walking distance of Theresa’s Lafayette Square residence. Presumably this modest apartment was for more intimate, less public encounters. But these encounters turned out to be not-much-less public. The two were attractive, well-dressed, and, therefore, totally out of place in that neighborhood; they were spotted at once. If that wasn’t enough their ostensibly secret code (the first to arrive would hand a white ribbon from the second floor shutter to signal that they were in attendance) was noticed by, well, nearly everyone.

The smitten pair carried on their intrigue so openly they seemed never to have entered their place of assignation on Fifteenth Street without a crowd of admiring witnesses at windows of the neighboring houses.

Dan was warned by friends, servants and at least one anonymous letter that something was not right. After making further inquiries Dan agreed. Armed with the evidence he confronted his wife and forced her to fess up:

I have been in a house on Fifteenth Street with Mr. Key. How many times I don’t know… Usually stayed an hour or more. There was a bed in the second story. I did what is usual for a wicked woman to do.

Theresa contributed some helpful details. They had met at least a dozen times. The hour varied from day to day. They never ate or drank anything, and, oh yes, when Dan was away, they made love on the sofa in the parlor.

Delighted with Theresa’s candor Dan had her written confession signed by two witnesses, you know, just in case. Trustworthy diarist George Templeton Strong picks up the action twenty-four hours later:

February 28. (1856) The news of the day is that the Honorable Dan Sickles has attained the dignity of homicide. Having ascertained that Mr. Phillip Barton Key… has been too intimate with his pretty young wife… he put three pistols in his pocket and shot Key in the street yesterday morning.

Two derringers and a pistol, to be precise. It was 2 p.m., and Dan saw Bart waving a white hanky across from his house (another not-so-subtle signal) and immediately armed himself and confronted Bart: “Key, you scoundrel, you have dishonored my house—you must die!” Dan shot. They grappled. Bart threw his opera glasses at Dan. Dan shot again, misfired and then shot again, mortally wounding his rival. Dan went to inform Theresa that their affair, in a manner of speaking, was over.

Dan confessed and retained eight lawyers including Edwin M. Stanton, who would go on to become Lincoln’s highly-effective, no-nonsense Secretary of War. And nonsense was precisely what Dan’s lawyers had in mind, conjuring up the first ‘If he ain’t fit, you must acquit’ defense.

Nearly the whole country followed the three-week trial, reading Theresa’s tearful Confession (printed in facsimile) in their newspaper. Public opinion, however, was clearly in Dan’s favor thanks to the Unwritten Rule (i.e. it’s okay to shoot your wife’s lover).

The jury acquitted him without even leaving the box to deliberate. Spectators burst into applause and cheered their hero all the way to his waiting carriage.

Dan Sickles had become the first person in American history to plead temporary insanity.

Etimología elemental

Source
elements.vanderkrogt.net/

Dumbest deaths of history

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10 inventors who were killed by their own invention

Attila the Hun:
One of the most notorious villains in history, Attila’s army had conquered all of Asia by 450 AD-from Mongolia to the edge of the Russian Empire-by destroying villages and pillaging the countryside.
How he died: He got a nosebleed on his wedding night.
In 453 AD, Attila married a young girl named Ildico. Despite his reputation for ferocity on the battlefield, he tended to eat and drink lightly during large banquets. On his wedding night, however, he really cut loose, gorging himself on food and drink. Sometime during the night he suffered a nosebleed, but was too drunk to notice. He drowned in his own blood and was found dead the next morning.

Tycho Brahe:
An important Danish astronomer of the 16th century. His ground breaking research allowed Sir Isaac Newton to come up with the theory of gravity.
How he died: Didn’t get to the bathroom in time.
In the 16th century, it was considered an insult to leave a banquet table before the meal was over. Brahe, known to drink excessively, had a bladder condition-but failed to relieve himself before the banquet started. He made matters worse by drinking too much at dinner, and was too polite to ask to be excused. His bladder finally burst, killing him slowly and painfully over the next 11 days.

Horace Wells:
Pioneered the use of anesthesia in the 1840s
How he died: Used anesthetics to commit suicide.
While experimenting with various gases during his anesthesia research, Wells became addicted to chloroform. In 1848 he was arrested for spraying two women with sulfuric acid. In a letter he wrote from jail, he blamed chloroform for his problems, claiming that he’d gotten high before the attack. Four days later he was found dead in his cell. He’d anaesthetized himself with chloroform and slashed open his thigh with a razor.

Francis Bacon:
One of the most influential minds of the late 16th century. A statesman, a philosopher, a writer, and a scientist, he was even rumored to have written some of Shakespeare’s plays.
How he died: Stuffing snow into a chicken
One afternoon in 1625, Bacon was watching a snowstorm and was struck by the wondrous notion that maybe snow could be used to preserve meat in the same way that salt was used. Determined to find out, he purchased a chicken from a nearby village, killed it, and then, standing outside in the snow, attempted to stuff the chicken full of snow to freeze it. The chicken never froze, but Bacon did.

Jerome Irving Rodale:
Founding father of the organic food movement, creator of “Organic Farming and Gardening” magazine, and founder of Rodale Press, a major publishing corporation.
How he died: On the “Dick Cavett Show”, while discussing the benefits of organic foods.
Rodale, who bragged “I’m going to live to be 100 unless I’m run down by a sugar-crazed taxi driver,” was only 72 when he appeared on the “Dick Cavett Show” in January 1971. Part way through the interview, he dropped dead in his chair. Cause of death: heart attack. The show was never aired.

Aeschylus:
A Greek playwright back in 500 BC. Many historians consider him the father of Greek tragedies.
How he died: An eagle dropped a tortoise on his head
According to legend, eagles picked up tortoises and attempt to crack them open by dropping them on rocks. An eagle mistook Aeschylus’ head for a rock (he was bald) and dropped it on him instead.

Jim Fixx:
Author of the best selling “Complete Book of Running,” which started the jogging craze of the 1970s.
How he died: A heart attack….while jogging
Fixx was visiting Greensboro, Vermont when he walked out of his house and began jogging. He’d only gone a short distance when he had a massive coronary. His autopsy revealed that one of his coronary arteries was 99% clogged, another was 80% obstructed, and a third was 70% blocked….and that Fixx had had three other attacks in the weeks prior to his death.

Confederados en Santarem, Pará, BR

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History of Female Contraception

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By Victoria Nottingham
In the past, a woman used birth control primarily to avoid pregnancy, especially if she already had many children. Before the advent of modern medicine, pregnancy was a dangerous business and many women died during or after childbirth. Much of the birth control methods that were developed were done so by trial and error, and the secrets that were discovered were quietly passed on from woman to woman.
Dances, Amulets, Rituals, and Myths
The earliest documented forms of birth control were dances, rituals, amulets, and myths. By the 2nd-century CE, Greek gynecologist Soranus knew that women were fertile during ovulation and promoted the rhythm method. (Unfortunately, he was incorrect in his assumption that ovulation occurred during menstruation, rather than prior to it.) He also recommended several, less scientific, ways to prevent conception: holding the breath and drawing the body back during sex so the sperm could not penetrate the mouth of the uterus; dislodging the sperm by jumping backwards seven times after intercourse; and sitting down on bent knees in order to provoke sneezing! Similarly, prostitutes in 1st-century BCE are said to have ground their pelvises in a manner that increased their partner's pleasure, with the assumption that the movement simultaneously diverted the sperm away from the womb.
Ancient Roman women wore a leather pouch containing a cat's liver on their left foot during sex to prevent conception. Another preventative was spitting in the mouth of a frog three times. European women were advised to turn the wheel of a grain mill backwards four times at midnight. Others thought that if they inserted a finger into the vagina and "swished it around" after intercourse, it would dislodge or confuse the sperm. Around the same time period, women in other parts of the world wore birth control necklaces or carried amulets to prevent pregnancy.
And in cultures where the moon was believed to be responsible for fertilizing crops, women slept out of the moonlight, so as not to be impregnated by moonbeams. In a similar vein, Papuan Islanders worried that homosexual males might become pregnant. To ensure that this did not occur, they held ceremonies during which they fed them limes to avoid conception.
A more reliable method used in ancient times was continuous breastfeeding, which can prevent ovulation, often until a child was three years old. And a guaranteed method of birth control? Abstinence. In the Middle Ages, some women in Catholic Europe opted for a life in the church. The decision was encouraged, in part, because the vocation meant that money would be given and/or left to the church, initially in the form of a dowry and later, if there was any, as an inheritance.
Spermicides, IUDs, Pessaries, and Douches
In the ancient medical manuscript the Ebers Papyrus (1550 BCE), women were advised to grind dates, acacia tree bark, and honey together into a paste and apply it with seed wool to the vulva. Modern science has shown that, since acacia ferments into lactic acid, a well-known spermicide, this method may have been effective. Other compounds that were smeared around the vagina included olive oil, pomegranate pulp, ginger, and tobacco juice.
Historians believe the Arabs invented intrauterine devices: they placed pebbles in the uteruses of their camels, so they would remain "unhindered" for long trips through the desert. In 1920, German gynecologist Grafenberg developed the first proper IUD for humans, using silkworm gut and silver wire coiled into a ring.
Pessaries (vaginal suppositories or diaphragms) have been recorded as early as 2nd-century BCE. Substances used include elephant or crocodile dung, leaves, and seaweed. Another so-called pessary, which was developed by a man, was a wooden block, similar in size and shape to a doorstop. This method was condemned in the 1930s as an instrument of torture. Other methods have included placing an apricot pit in the uterus, or a product consisting of cocoa butter, boric acid, and tannic acid.
Throughout history, women have also used objects such as sea sponges or soft wool as a sperm barrier, often in combination with lemon juice or vinegar as a spermicide. Half a lemon might be inserted into the vagina. Oriental women used oiled paper to "cap" the cervix, while European women used beeswax.
Soluble pessaries came into the market in the 1800s – these were quinine or cocoa butter tablets that were inserted into the vagina before intercourse. The first brand, Wife's Friend, was created by W.J. Rendell.
Douches have been used throughout history. Since at least the 1600s, French prostitutes used syringes to douche with an acidic liquid, which was thought to be more effective than water.Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives have been available for more than 4,000 years. Women in ancient China drank mercury to prevent pregnancy. Later, women in India imbibed carrot seeds, and an aboriginal group in Eastern Canada drank a tea brewed with beaver testicles.
In Ancient Greece and Rome, the juice of the silphium plant was a popular and effective form of oral contraceptive, which women took once a month. Unfortunately, the siphium plant only grew in one place in Cyrene was extinct by the 1st century CE. In the 2nd century CE, Soranus advised women to drink the water that blacksmiths used to cool hot metals. Urine and animal parts and poisons such as mercury, arsenic, and strychnine were also used as oral contraceptives.
Abortion
Despite continuous debate over the ethics of abortion, it has been practiced throughout the centuries.
Throughout history, midwives doubled as informal family planning counselors, who would help with childbirth as well as with unwanted births. Emmenagogues (which bring on a period) and abortifacients were known as "women's medicines," which were used like the modern morning after pill. In the early 1900s these products were advertised as "removing obstructions" and "preventing irregularities" in the menstrual cycle.
Much of the information that these "wise women" knew has been lost over time – the information was taboo by most religious standards, and history and medical books were written by men, who were not as interested in "women's problems." But because of this lost information about herbal contraceptives, modern accidents have happened. For instance, pregnant women drinking pennyroyal tea may unwittingly miscarry. In one of Aristophanes' Ancient Greek comedies, Hermes advises the hero to "add a dose of pennyroyal" to keep his mistress out of trouble. Other herbs that have been taken to prevent or abort pregnancy include willow leaves, colocynth, and yarrow.
Despite the great technological and medical advancements of the 21st century, looking back at the history of birth control, we still have to ask: How far have we come, really?
Also read History of Male Contraception and It's a Mad, Mad World .

Las histéricas

La Histeria

La histeria (del francés hystérie, y éste del griego ὑστέρα, «útero») es una afección psicológica que pertenece al grupo de las neurosis y que padece el uno por ciento de la población mundial. Se encuadra dentro de los trastornos de somatización y se manifiesta en el paciente en forma de una angustia al suponer que padece diversos problemas físicos o psíquicos. En tanto que neurosis, no se acompaña nunca de una ruptura con la realidad (como en el delirio) ni de una desorganización de la personalidad. Técnicamente, se denomina conversión histérica.
El cerebro histérico no está enfermo, pero ciertas regiones son, manifiestamente, sede de una actividad anormal, y determinados circuitos parecen encontrarse transitoriamente bloqueados por una especie de parálisis funcional.

Hysterie (aus Wikipedia)

Die Bezeichnung Hysterie (von griechisch hystera: Gebärmutter, verwandt mit lat. uterus) als psychologischer Fachbegriff für eine neurotische Störung gilt inzwischen als veraltet und wurde im ICD-10 durch die Bezeichnungen dissoziative Störung (F44) bzw. Histrionische Persönlichkeitsstörung (F60.4) ersetzt – nicht zuletzt aufgrund der Tatsache, dass dem Begriff der Hysterie aus etymologischer Sicht eine Verbindung mit dem weiblichen Geschlecht sowie eine negative Bewertung anhaftet. Andere gebräuchliche Synonyme sind: histrionische Reaktion, Konversionsstörung, Konversionshysterie, Somatisierungsstörung (bei multiplen, häufig wechselnden körperlichen Syndromen), sowie psychoreaktives Syndrom.

Geschichte des Krankheitsbildes
Die Hysterie gilt als die älteste aller beobachteten psychischen Störungen. In den antiken Beschreibungen der Hysterie in altägyptischen Papyri wie bei Platon und Hippokrates wird die Ursache der Krankheit in der Gebärmutter gesehen. Konzeptionell ging man davon aus, dass die Gebärmutter, wenn sie nicht regelmäßig mit Samen (Sperma) gefüttert werde, im Körper suchend umherschweife und sich dann am Gehirn festbeiße. Dies führe dann zum typischen „hysterischen“ Verhalten. Dem widersprach erstmals der englische Arzt Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), auch Charcot und Freud wiesen darauf hin, dass Hysterie nicht ausschließlich eine Frauenkrankheit sei.
Paul Julius Möbius definierte (1888) die Hysterie provisorisch als alle diejenigen krankhaften Erscheinungen, die durch Vorstellungen verursacht sind. Dies entsprach der allgemeinen Definition der Hysterie vor 1895 und erfasste praktisch einen Großteil aller psychischen Erkrankungen. Das Krankheitsbild war also sehr unspezifiziert und umfangreich. Übergeordnetes Merkmal der Hysterie war damals bereits das Fehlen somatischer Ursachen, welches heute allen psychogenen Krankheiten zugrunde liegt. So wurde sie im 19. und im beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert besonders häufig diagnostiziert.
Bezeichnenderweise führte auch Sigmund Freuds Weg zur Psychoanalyse über die Hysterie, wobei sich Freud auf den Hysteriespezialisten Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) berief. Charcot dokumentierte das Verhalten seiner Patientinnen ausführlich, auch mit den Mitteln der Fotografie. Seine Fotos zeigen eindrückliche Beispiele von Patientinnen, die sich in die Diagnose des Arztes hineinleben wie in eine Theaterrolle. Später gab Freud zusammen mit Josef Breuer seine „Studien über Hysterie“ heraus, 1895 erstmals veröffentlicht, geschlossen editiert mit der Auflage von 1922. Diese Studien gelten allgemein als erste Werke der Psychoanalyse. Der Begriff „Hysterie“ wurde von Freud allerdings neu definiert, wobei er unter anderem den Begriff Konversionsneurose einführte, weil hier nach seiner Ansicht psychisches Leiden in körperliches konvertierte. Allerdings hat sich diese Umbenennung nicht durchsetzen können, zumal später erkannt wurde, dass nahezu jedes psychische Leiden körperliche Symptome hervorruft, die keineswegs „hysterische“ Merkmale aufweisen müssen. Als typische Prädiktoren für die hysterische Entwicklung sah Freud geistig leistungsfähige junge Menschen, die in einem anregungs- und bildungsarmen Familienklima aufwachsen und die einen Hang zur Tagträumerei (Breuer) aufweisen.
Ebenfalls auf diese beiden Wissenschaftler geht die Einführung ätiogenetischer Kriterien hinsichtlich eines krankheitstypischen psychischen Vorgangs zurück. Ihn aufzudecken sah Freud als das eigentliche Problem, denn er sei mit jenen Auskünften, die der Hysteriker freizügig erteilt, nicht zu erkennen. Es erschien so, als würde der Patient gerade diesen Vorgang verstecken wollen. Die später von Freud gemachte Entdeckung unbewußter Vorstellungsinhalte eigneten sich zur Entwicklung einer ätiogenetischen Erklärung sowie zur Entwicklung der Psychoanalyse als Form der Gesprächstherapie ohne Anwendung der Hypnose.
Noch bis 1952 wurde dieser Begriff als Sammelbegriff für eine Vielzahl nicht klar umrissener und ausschließlich weiblicher Beschwerden verwendet bis er von der „American Psychiatric Society“ aus der Liste der Krankheiten gestrichen wurde.

Female hysteria

Female hysteria was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is no longer recognized by modern medical authorities. It was a popular diagnosis in Western nations, during the Victorian era, for women who exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a "tendency to cause trouble".
Patients diagnosed with female hysteria would sometimes undergo "pelvic massage" — manual stimulation of the woman's genitals by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as orgasm.

Histeria femenina

Masajes de agua como tratamiento para la histeria. Alrededor de 1860.

La histeria femenina era una condición diagnosticada en la medicina occidental hasta mediados del siglo XX. En la era victoriana fue el diagnóstico habitual de un amplio abanico de síntomas, que incluían desfallecimientos, insomia, retención de fluidos, pesadez abdominal, espasmos musculares, respiración entrecortada, irritabilidad, pérdida de apetito y “tendencia a causar problemas”
Las pacientes diagnosticadas con histeria femenina debían recibir un tratamiento conocido como “masaje pélvico”—estimulación manual de los genitales de la mujer por el doctor hasta llegar al “paroxismo histérico”, lo que hoy se denomina orgasmo.

Historia temprana
La historia de la histeria se remonta a la antigüedad: fue descrita tanto por el filósofo Platón como por el médico Hipócrates, y se encuentra recogida antes en papiros egipcios. Un mito de la antigua Grecia relata que el útero deambula por el cuerpo de la mujer, causando enfermedades a la víctima cuando llega al pecho. Esta teoría da cuenta al origen del nombre, pues la raíz proviene de la palabra griega para útero: hystera.
Galeno, importante médico del siglo II, escribió que la histeria era una enfermedad causada por la privación sexual en mujeres particularmente pasionales. La histeria se diagnosticó frecuentemente en vírgenes, monjas, viudas y en ocasiones mujeres casadas. La prescripción en la medicina medieval y renacentista era el coito si estaba casada, el matrimonio si estaba soltera y el masaje de una comadrona como último recurso.

Época victoriana
Un médico de 1859 aseguró que una de cada cuatro mujeres estaba aquejada de histeria, lo que resulta razonable, teniendo en cuenta que el médico reunió 75 páginas de posibles síntomas y dijo que la lista no estaba completa; casi cualquier dolencia leve podía servir para diagnosticar histeria. Los médicos pensaban que la tensión de la vida moderna hacía a las mujeres más susceptibles a desórdenes nerviosos. En los Estados Unidos tales desórdenes de las mujeres confirmaron que estaban a la par con Europa; un médico estadounidense expresó su alegría porque el país estaba “alcanzando” a Europa en la prevalencia de la histeria.
Rachael P. Maines, autor de "The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction," ha observado que estos casos eran muy ventajosos para los médicos, dado que no había ningún riesgo de que la paciente muriese pero necesitaba tratamiento constante. El único problema era que los médicos no disfrutaban con la tediosa tarea del masaje. La técnica era difícil de dominar para un médico y podía tomar horas llegar al “paroxismo histérico”. Derivarlas a las comadronas, una práctica por otra parte habitual, era una pérdida de oportunidades de negocio para el médico.
Una solución fue la invención de los aparatos para proporcionar masajes, lo que eliminaba la necesidad de recurrir a una comadrona. A finales del siglo XVIII en Bath se vendían dispositivos de hidroterapia y a mediados del siglo XIX eran un accesorio popular en los complejos de balnearios de lujo de Europa y los Estados Unidos.
Desde 1870 los médicos dispusieron del primer vibrador mecánico y en 1873 se empleo el primer vibrador electromecánico en un asilo de Francia.
Aunque los médicos de la época reconocían que el desorden provenía de la insatisfacción sexual, parecían reticentes a admitir el propósito sexual de los dispositivos empleados para tratarlo.
De hecho, la introducción del espéculo fue mucho más controvertida que la del vibrador, seguramente debido a su naturaleza más fálica.
A finales del siglo XIX la difusión de la electricidad en el hogar facilitó la llegada del vibrador al mercado de consumo. El atractivo de un tratamiento más barato en la intimidad del propio hogar hizo que el vibrador alcanzase una cierta popularidad. De hecho, el vibrador eléctrico llegó al mercado mucho antes que otros dispositivos esenciales: nueve años antes del aspirador y diez años antes de la plancha eléctrica. Una página del cátalogo de la compañía internacional Sears, Roebuck and Company de electrodomésticos de 1918 incluye un anuncio para un vibrador portátil con accesorios, descrito como “muy útil y satisfactorio para el uso casero”.

The history of vibrators

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From the moment that the steam-powered “Manipulator” appeared in Britain in 1870, the story of vibrators is every bit as thrilling as the devices themselves, reflecting science, medicine, design, technology and social history. I am this week giving a lecture at the Cheltenham Science Festival on the science and history of vibrators, and through my research I have come to realise that, above all, the vibrator story reflects men's changing attitudes towards women.
It starts hysterically with “womb furie”. Hippocrates thought the womb wasn't a fixed item but wandered about the body looking for trouble. At the moment of orgasm, it gripped the windpipe causing the breathless panting so familiar to watchers of When Harry Met Sally. From earliest times there was a recognised women's complaint characterised by nervousness, fluid retention, insomnia and lack of appetite. Hippocrates thought that a blockage in the womb was the cause of it, hence it was called hysteria from the Greek for womb (hysteros). Galen, a Greek physician, claimed it was caused by sexual deprivation, particularly in passionate women, and was noted in nuns, virgins, widows and occasionally in married women whose husbands were not up to the job.
Massage to “paroxysm” was the ticket. “Arising from the touch of the genital organs required by the treatment, there follows twitchings accompanied at the same time by pain and pleasure...from that time she is free of all the evil she felt,” proclaimed Galen.
The trouble was that doctors regarded this treatment as numbingly tedious. Bringing a woman to paroxysm by hand could, understandably, take for ever. It was a job that required stamina and not a little patience. And, significantly, because it took so long, it wasn't lucrative enough for doctors who needed to see many patients to achieve a reasonable income.

And masturbation (by either sex) was regarded as wrong. It was not only a moral affront but something that was thought of as constitutionally dangerous, enfeebling mind and body. “Women [with hysteria] should not resort to rubbing,” said Avicenna, the Muslim scholar and founder of early modern medicine. It was, he advised, “a man's job, suitable only for husbands and doctors”

Vibrador de los 1930':

A vibrating sphere did the business
By the late 19th century spas had introduced water treatments to do the job more efficiently. A scary French pelvic douche from about 1860 involved what looks like a high-pressure fire hose, trained on the clitoris. It claimed to induce paroxysm in less than four minutes. If marriage wasn't delivering the goods, rickety trains, rocking chairs or horse riding were advised for nervous women as gynaecological Dyno-Rodding techniques. But if the 2.20 from Tooting failed to oblige, there was no option but recourse to a medical man. Given that many in the medical profession thought that as much as 75 per cent of the female population were “hysterical” and that it was a chronic disease which could be relieved but not cured, there was a pressing need for cheaper, less cumbersome devices. By the mid-1870s, steam power had been explored. “The Manipulator” was a table with a cut-out area for the woman's pelvis. A vibrating sphere driven by a steam engine then did the business. But like the hydrotherapies, it was not suitable for the doctor's treatment room. It was a niche market poised for exploitation.

The first British vibrator was manufactured by Weiss in the early 1880s and it had several interchangeable “vibratodes”. It was battery-driven, but as electrification swept the world, devices rapidly appeared that were powered by street current. They delivered vibrations at the rate of 1,000-7,000 pulses a minute. There was every sort of variation: portable, floor-standing and, oh joy, the wondrous Carpenter vibrator which hung from the ceiling, looking like a device familiar to those who visit Kwik Fit to have their tyres changed.

These devices were operated by doctors, which medicalised the process and made it entirely proper. But more importantly, the medical paradigm for millennia had been that women's sexual pleasure involves penetration. A bit of rubbing by a doctor was perfectly acceptable because it didn't involve putting anything in the vagina. In fact, there was far fiercer controversy when the speculum (a metal device that is put into the vagina to allow a clear view of the neck of the womb) was introduced. The other point that is often raised is why, if paroxysm was the sovereign cure for hysteria, women were not taught how to masturbate and cure themselves.
In the early 20th century, everything in the garden was rosy until electrification made vibrators available in the home. They were, incidentally, electrified ten years before either the washing machine or Hoover. The first home machines were awesomely large, with a big box attached to the mains. One imagines that they were also awesomely noisy. But then they were miniaturised (relatively speaking). Hand-cranked versions became available, which presumably must have been distressingly prone to running out of power long before satisfaction had been achieved.
With names like Dr Macaura's Blood Circulator or the fabulously titled Veedee Vibrator, these were common devices. The Science Museum has many. “People never expect that the Science Museum has over 40 examples of vibrators,” says Katie Maggs, its assistant curator of medicine. Indeed. The product leaflets of these machines claimed they cured not just hysteria but also deafness, polio and impotence. No doubt dropped arches, halitosis and dandruff were in there somewhere, too. These machines were advertised everywhere. Good Housekeeping ran a “tried and tested” on vibrators in 1909, claiming they brought a glow to the face.

From medicine to high street accessory
Once this “treatment” had escaped from the medical arena and was available for home use, doctors stopped using it. Moreover, although vibrators were still widely advertised before the First World War, the advent of silent films, some of which portrayed them being used sexually, discredited them. Vibrators then disappeared from view completely for the best part of 50 years, although they continued to be offered, labelled as “neck massagers” in catalogues.
By the 1980s, shops such as Ann Summers were offering devices in lurid flesh tones. They were largely designed for penetration and bought by men in back streets. How things have changed. Now the devices are smaller, all colours, largely designed for clitoral use and bought by women on the high street.
But look at the latest Ann Summers device, the iGasm. Its various ‘tickler' attachments make it look startlingly similar to something illustrated in the Army & Navy catalogue of 1905.
There is nothing new in the world.

For Pleasure: A history of the vibrator

By Teresa Riordan Posted Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Click here to see a slide show.

Slate offers a tour of the vibrator's evolution. Since its introduction in the 1880s, the device has, by the most conservative estimates, mechanically induced billions of orgasms. Yet it springs from surprisingly chaste and medical beginnings. Click here for a slide show about the history of artificial stimulation for women.

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