Antique Lamps	Tesla - Van De Graaff	X-ray - Laser - HT
Medicine - Quack Machines	Microscopes - Optic	Electrocardiographs

To live at a big house in the countryside involves several inconveniences but also many advantages, for istance the possibility to collect and accumulate many old and interesting things, this would not be possible in a town flat. 

Here I can do my strangest experiments  without disturbing the neighbours; only victims of these my little madnesses  are my wife, that is terrorized by the electric discharges and the animals which, when they see me with strange gadgets in the hand, go away quickly.

Here I have picked up my little personal museum  with the tools that I have built or that I have bought. They concern  the medicine, the biology, the physics.

My wife shares with me the passion for the ancient lamps, (oil, kerosene, carbide, gasoline). We have more than one hundreds 

My wife and I, we have begun this collection just married; in our journeys in France and  in Italy, we were stopping often in the little brocante shops and if our finances were in assets, we were buying lamps (maybe with the secret hope to find the one of Aladino); we have bought many of  those, maybe too many: My wife was looking the aesthetic side, I instead the technical. In our collection there is everything: the humble oil lamp of alpine hut and  the pretentious kerosene lamp of ancient sittig-room.

Oil lamp Quinquet ~ 1790 Kerosene Lamp. England early 1900s. From left: veilleuses, lamp with stem, Neapolitan lamp. Neapolitan lamps in opaline. They were offered in opportunity of marriages and important days. Series of oil and kerosene lamps.

Oil - Moderator Lamp Mid 1800s. French kerosene Lamp with miniatures. First '900. Little oil lamp and precious lamp with shade engraved to the acid. Oil lamp in opaline blue end 1800s with veilleuses. Series of oil and kerosene lamps.

My wife says the age is not synonym about wisdom, also claims who "plays" with these devices, he must necessarily to be a little crazy: maybe she is right; I advise to give a look to theWebRing hub HT  site or WebRing hub tesla  or to the Italian site: http://S.webring.com/hub?ring=italianteslacoil  to see how many "crazys" there are in the web ... it is really worth.  

Tesla coil built by me more than 35 years ago. Spectacular high tension sparks and high frequency - about 80.000 Volt Van De Graaff, electrostatic engine I have built recently.

The neon lamp lights up without electric contact. This power is not dangereus, only a light pinch. One does not joke, here the "lightnings" exceed 50 cm: about 7-800.000 Volt.

The Tesla Coil, in:12 '000 volts,  30 ma. Out about 500.000 volts   New Tesla, tubes version.  New Van De Graaff in building

Tesla coil in action: discharges  40 -50 cm. Tesla tubes in action. Van De Graaff,  finished!

Maxi - Tesla Coil, 8000 volt, 100 mA- discharges 1300 cm

My 3 Tesla

Maxi Tesla Coil in action, video (Windows Media - 83Kb)

X-ray - Laser - HT

At 15 years old with my first fix anode Coolidge tube. Here what now remains of that magnificent tube: the weighing anticathode. Ancient and rare X-ray apparatus with Focus tube and Ruhmkorff coil. Machlett X-ray tubes  "tennis ball"

Modern X-ray rotating anode tube. Modern X-ray rotating anode tube. Modern X-ray rotating anode tube. X-ray dental tube

HeNe middle power laser

Laser HeNe hight power

Collection of little Ruhmkorff coils

Medicine Quack Machines

The discovery of the electricity created many expectations also in medical field. The researchers tried soon to exploit the possible therapeutic properties of this new and mysterious science; together with serious scientists,  many quacks scientists  took advantage of the chances which this innovation was offering them; many devices were planned: electrostatic machines, generators of galvanic and faradic currents, everyone was promising miraculous recoveries …unbelievable but some time the patients had recovered... power of the suggestion and the placebo effect!!! In America these devices were classified as Quack Machine .Unfortunately many of these devices are still built and offerings. The websites which treat these arguments are numerous, I signal some: http://www.mtn.org/quack/welcome.htm    http://www.quackwatch.org/index.html      http://www.collectmedicalantiques.com/quack.html                                  

TENSIONS IMPULSIVE Dynamos  These devices were not needing batteries.

Magneto Electric Machine (David Kidde patented 1850) It is a simple dynamo. The patient was keeping in hand the 2 cylindrical electrodes while the doctor was turning the handle. Some minute of troublesome electric shocks and the patient had recovered...

1930 ca. This is a more technological and aesthetically pleasant device but identical in the beginning. An internal dynamo is moved by 2 small metal wheels which run on the skin, they behave as electrodes and causes a contraction of the submitting muscles.

Whitall Tatum 1890 ca. Adding a mercury bisolfate solution in the round cup, the coil was fed by a continuos current sufficient for the working. Simple generator without custody; the batteries was outside

Apollo Medical Apparatus - Aesthetically very beautiful and very careful in the building. 'The Cox-Cavendish Electrical Co. Ltd. X-Ray & Electro-Medical Apparatus'.

LittleFrench device sold by the company Binda Opticien. Feeding with outside battery. Home Medical Apparatus. Internal batteries. Sold  for electrothérapie at home

G. Wohlmuth e Co - It is a German galvanothérapie device, forerunner of the modern ionoforesi This is a German high frequency electrothérapie device with a roller electrode.

Violet Ray Chardin This is a 4 electrodes French device. 110 -220 volt	Medicus - High frequency with 21 electrodes. 110 - 220 volt
Violet Ray Cosmetic. Higth frequency with 6 electrodes	Violet Ray Dale A.F. Ultra. Italian higth frequency, recent with 6 electrodes.

	Old inhalers with alcohol stove.
	Vapo-Cresolene This is a device very diffuse in the Anglo-Saxon countries early 1900's. A little alcohol stove  was heating the superior metal saucer in which a creosote solution was put to disinfect the environment.
	Dr. Johansen's Auto Vibrator - Pat'd March 5, 1907, Made by KNY-Sheerer Co. New York. Hand crank vibrators were popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's for their lower cost and lack of need for a power source.

Little portable microscope, late 1800s My first microscope. Hensoldt Wetzlar. Microbiology microscope. Little collection of Brownie Kodak from 1901 and other photo-devices.

Little portable microscope, late 1800s Various microscopes Stereo-microscope for biology (I use it for the amber)   Yashica with bellows for macro.

Telescope I have built gathering a cathadioptric Russian objective: 1000/10 , spyglass prisms and microscope eyepieces. The pointer is a aim for hunt rifles. It works very well and easy to transport

At the epoch of the university I have been internal pupil of the famous and discussed Prof. Margaria of Milan, teacher of biochemical and physiology. Exploiting my passion for electronics he had urged me to plan a few devices they were serving him: since that moment has been begun my love for cardiology. Quite a lot of years later I planned and built a interesting vector-cardiograph. Here the prototype to which I am especially fond; all this explains my little and strange collection

Here my device: Vectorcardiographie, Electrocardiographie   ECG mono-channel ECG and phono-cardiograph

Monitor version with defibrillator and layout on paper. (old photography) Old ECG  3 channels Modern ECG