Electricity and the Invisible Ray

Updated in February 2016, this exhibit recreates a doctor's treatment room circa 1930. Modeled after the shared general practice of Dr. Charles Bird and his son Dr. Godfrey Bird in Gananoque, Ontario, the display invites viewers to explore the role of the general practitioner and common medical treatments in the first half of the twentieth century.

This exhibition also focuses on the exciting influence of electricity and x-ray on health care in Canada at this time, and features a rare, early 1900s static generator.

 

How did the static generator function and what was it used for at the turn of the century? Watch the video below to find out.

Read about an artefact donor's memories of the electrostatic generator on our blog.