From the FCS Book of Little-Known Facts (Victorians and electrotherapy)

During the 19th Century electricity was starting to be harnessed more and more for everyday use. It also started to be used for medical practices.

This was called Electrotherapy. It was used to alleviate varying problems from muscle weakness to gout. The treatment literally meant people paying to be shocked by electricity in the problem area. This would, as you can imagine, leave burns and didn’t really do anything to help. It’s that dodgy science again!

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to stop learning new things