Almost as soon as European scientists could make a battery, they were experimenting with the effects of electricity on animals and people. They began to theorise that electricity was the ‘spark of life’.

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By the late 1800s some scientists believed human bodies were akin to batteries and could be ‘nourished’ by applications of electricity – some even claimed it was the key to immortality. Animal magnetism, vitalogy and orgone theory were three such ideas.

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Our electrotherapies collection shows inventions intended to nourish, resuscitate and shock human bodies into health – some were eventually discredited, despite their popularity, and others have become familiar to us.

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"Cured by Lightning" is one of our curated displays.