Bed (Graham's Magnetic)
Bed (Graham's Magnetic)
A magnetic contrivance, similar to the baquet, made use of by James Graham, eighteenth-century physician and magnetist of Edinburgh, Scotland. His entire house, which he dubbed the Temple of Hygeia and opened in 1779, was of great magnificence, especially the room with the magnetic bed. The bed itself rested on six transparent pillars; the mattresses were soaked with oriental perfumes; the bedclothes were of satin in tints of purple and sky blue. A healing stream of magnetism, as well as fragrant and strengthening medicines, were introduced into the sleeping apartment through glass tubes and cylinders. To these attractions were added the soft strains of hidden flutes, harmonicons, and a large organ. Use of this celestial couch was said to sooth shattered nerves and was allowed only to those who sent a written application to its owner and enclosed £50 sterling.