John Leeke, Preservation Consultant wrote:

> John (used to love goofing around with electricity until the transformer from
> a neon sign I was using to power my Jacob's ladder threw me across the room)
> Leeke
>
> P.S. Right after that I started learning about insulation.

John,

I've been there. No fun. I'd rather bust stone all day.

Possibly you can help me figure something out. I inherited from my
carpenter/inventor grandfather this electrical gadget that comes in a small black
wooden box. It consists of a black tube about 2" in diameter and 10" in length.
At one end is the electrical cord, at the other a socket, approx. 1/2" in
diameter in which you place a glass tube. The device comes with two tubes, each
about 8" in lenght and oddly shaped.. One tube flattens out into sort of a 1-1/2"
diameter bellshape, with a bend in the neck of the extension. The other remains
slender and resembles an enema device for a hot water bottle. When you plug the
device into the outlet it begins making static noises and emits a purple spark
through the tube. When you touch it against your skin a visible charge jumps from
the tube to your skin. We don't turn this thing on very often and I'm not to sure
where it has got to in the house. I found it while halping my grandfather clean
out his woodworking shop for the last time. I asked him what it was and he told
me he had no idea, some sort of medical thing. I can only imagine what he and my
grandmother used it for, if at all. He was always going to thte dump to get stuff
to make new machines with, so it could have simply been a curious find.

Do you have any idea what this device could be?

][<en