The "Ammoniaphone" was developed by Dr. Carter Moffat in 1870 as an instrument to replicate the fresh Italian air and its qualities that seemed to assist with Italian vocalists. The Ammoniaphone was filled at both ends with a mixture of ammonia, hydrogen peroxide and peppermint oil, and the user inhaled the chemicals from the small tube in the centre. According to Dr. Moffatt, the Ammoniaphone was benefical to public speakers, Parliamentarians, vocalists, as well as assisting with bronchitis and consumption.Important to the collection due to its rarity and historical significance, as well as medical research capability.A long metal tube into which ammonia, hydrogen peroxide and peppermint oil were placed. The user inhaled the chemicals through the small tube in the centre of the object. It was thought to improve the voice through the inhalation of "artificial Italian air". Comes with the original box and instruction booklet."Medical Battery Co. 52 Oxford Street, London W"medical, quackery, voice alteration, consumption, ammoniaphone

This item reflects the changes in public health, medical practice and research over the last century.Small narrow wooden tube with lid holding a vial for mountain oil medicine. Original label.medicine mountain-oil quackery

p.299.non-fictionBased on a series of lectures delivered in 1840, Thomas Carlyle's On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History considers the creation of heroes and the ways they exert heroic leadership. From the divine and prophetic (Odin and Muhammad) to the poetic (Dante and Shakespeare) to the religious (Luther and Knox) to the political (Cromwell and Napoleon), Carlyle investigates the mysterious qualities that elevate humans to cultural significance. By situating the text in the context of six essays by distinguished scholars that reevaluate both Carlyle's work and his ideas, David Sorensen and Brent Kinser argue that Carlyle's concept of heroism stresses the hero's spiritual dimension. In Carlyle's engagement with various heroic personalities, he dislodges religiosity from religion, myth from history, and truth from "quackery" as he describes the wondrous ways in which these "flowing light-fountains" unlock the heroic potential of ordinary human beings.hero worship, philosophy